The Visionaries (maquette) Artist Barbara Paterson While the statue presents a conversation between the two university founders about the location of the proposed university, there is a deeper, layered history that the statue overlooks. The map held by Rutherford depicts a section of land marked with the number 5, which would become the future home of the University of Alberta. This map illustrates the presence of Métis river lots and specifically marks River Lot 5, along the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River. River Lot 5 was also a place where the Laurent Garneau family lived, played and made a living. River lots were included in the 1882 Dominion of Canada Survey for the settlement of Edmonton, Northwest Territories. The statue, however, provides limited visual information on who was present on the land and suggests that it was uninhabited before the university’s establishment. The history of these lands, prior to European contact in western Canada, included Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Dene, Néhiyaw (Cree) and Stoney Nakoda Nations. There would have been agreements or treaties in place between these Nations around sharing of the land. In essence, the statue simplifies the layered history of the land and points to the erasure of First Nations presence, of Treaty Six (signed in 1876) history, and the disenfranchisement of the Papaschase Cree Nation and their reserve (No. 136) lands. Large statues such as “The Visionaries” serve to publicly affirm the history and authority of those who are portrayed in the work. Although intended to celebrate the institutional founding of the University of Alberta, the statue brings to light the importance of acknowledging Indigenous Peoples and lands, and the way complex and layered histories are remembered and commemorated on campus. This is the endeavour of the people who continue to work and study at the University of Alberta today. University of Alberta Art Collection University of Alberta Museums
https://www.ualberta.ca/en/museums/museum-collections/art-collection/the-visionaries.html
#Terracotta #TrueScale #GISDay and the Visionaries #maquette dropped in for an orientation session.
www.ualberta.ca/en/museums/m...
#RiverLot5 #Treaty6
