A grandmother’s living room, handwoven baskets, life-sized photographs and more multimedia elements made up this semester’s exhibit at the Sheehan Gallery — “Picturing Family: Métis Life in the Walla Walla Valley.” The exhibit features photographs from local Métis (mixed Indigenous and French-Canadian) families in addition to quilts, baskets, beads and personal family collections. Part of the multimedia collection are life-sized photographs, maps of tribal allotment and a slideshow of family photos.
On Sept. 13th, the gallery hosted a panel with Professor of French and Francophone Studies Sarah Hurlburt, and Métis contributors Joey Lavador and Sam Pambrun. Libby Miller, Director of the Maxey Museum, discussed some of the families who contributed to the project and how their work helped shape the exhibit.
“The Picard family is represented by Gina and her daughter, Tila, who are the quilt makers and bead makers. You [can] see a bunch of their work scattered throughout the exhibition. Sam Pambrun’s daughter Jill and her husband Tim Parker are [ledger] collectors; it is meaningful work and very connected to [the exhibit’s] project of collecting,” Miller said.
Kynde Kiefel, Director of the Sheehan Gallery, explained how Lavador exemplified the values of close-knit community and artistic talent displayed in the exhibit.
“Joey Lavador is amazing and really a huge reason as to why this show exists. He’s the storyteller, he’s the archivist for his family, he’s the basket weaver and is connected to everybody in this show. Joey [even] invented a [basket] superstructure — Joey bottoms,” Kiefel said.
Collaboration was essential to the success of the exhibit, and Miller emphasized the critical role of Métis community members in helping shape the show.
“We’ve thought with this incarnation of the show, that we really got super lucky in the community partners that have contributed so beautifully and so thoroughly to that visualization of this research project. . .There are so many artists and collectors,” Miller said, “The idea of including the contemporary artwork and the objects collected by the families felt very integral to the vision of representing the continued vibrant existence of these families and this community.”
The exhibit was initially planned for Spring of 2020 but was delayed due to COVID-19. Over that time, the project expanded in scope, and student researchers were recruited to join the project.
“In these kinds of collaborative projects, when we represent faculty work and research and long term engagement, it’s a wonderful thing to get to collaborate with students. These students really cared and really got in deep and connected to the families and the storytellers too,” Kiefel said.
Gender Studies and French & Francophone Studies Major Madeline Senter, has been the Research Assistant for the Pacific Northwest Métis Family Photo Archive for two years. Senter found a sense of community and accomplishment through the work, where collaboration was essential to the project at every turn.
“Our focus for the past year or so has been preparing for the ‘Picturing Family’ exhibit, which involved photo cataloging, genealogy, audio editing, oral history interviews and other research tasks. It was really amazing to watch the exhibit come together,” Senter said, “Much of the work that our research team did was behind the scenes, and the Sheehan Gallery team would take our final materials and bring them to life in the exhibit space. It was rewarding to see everyone’s hard work fill up the space, and I’m really proud of the collaborative efforts of everyone involved.”
“Picturing Family: Métis Life in the Walla Walla Valley” is curated by Hurlburt, the Maxey Museum, and the Sheehan Gallery. The exhibit will be open until December 6th at the Sheehan Gallery in Olin, and there will also be a film screening and a panel on boarding schools on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, September 30th.
