Rural History and Culture Association

CHECK OUT THE LATEST AT DON’S RAGTIME EMPORIUM

Mike — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:36:22 +0000

Everyone’s favourite Saskatchewan history-themed musician, Don Modderman has just launched an exciting new website to promote his many musical projects including, Ragtime Don and the Word Junkie, Mystic Flute and Crofters. You can see what Don and company are up to (and grass definitely does not grow under Don’s feet) and you can order his awesome CDs right off the site, including his latest, Steamboats on the Saskatchewan. The site looks and sounds great, check it out!

ARCHIVES WEEK FEBRUARY 1-7, 2010

Mike — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:45:15 +0000

The Saskatchewan Council of Archives and Archivists (SCAA) in planning another action-packed week of activities to celebrate Archives Week in Saskatchewan, which runs from February 1 to February 7, 2010. Activities are being planned by archives in Saskatoon, Regina, Lloydminister, Humboldt, La Ronge, North Battleford and Rosetown. Events include archive open houses, film nights, celebrity readings, concerts and much more. Information on all these exciting activities is on the SCAA website including dates and locations. It will be a terrific week and a great chance to highlight the important work of archives and archivists in Saskatchewan!

PIONEERS O PIONEERS – NEW JEANS CAMPAIGN REVIVES CLASSIC POEM

Mike — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:29:11 +0000

“COME, my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready;
Have you your pistols? have you your sharp edged axes?
Pioneers! O pioneers”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above is the first stanza in Walt Whitman’s epic poem, Pioneers! O Pioneers. First published in 1855, the poem runs for 26 verses as it extolls the virtues of the men and women who traversed the North American continent to build the modern United States of America. Using this poem as its touchstone, Levi Strauss & Co. has launched a new advertising campaign (view video) declaring “This country was not built by men in suits.” While clearly designed to sell blue jeans it is more than that according to Susan Hoffman, Levi’s Executive Creative Director: “We want to refresh and reinvent the idea of the pioneering spirit for the times in which we live” The campaign states: “I am the new American pioneer, looking forward, never back. No longer content to wait for better times… I will work for better times.” It conjures up the image of people who succeeded despite hardship rather than simply whining about the unfairness of life.

The linking of the past to present for inspirational purposes is a strategy that was very successful during Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign and it is not surprising that an advertiser is now adopting a similar approach. While there have been numerous ideological objections to the campaign, it is terrific to see historical ideas being re-invented for a new generation. That is the only way that history can really matter.

NWMP TRAIL HIGHLIGHTED IN CANADA’S NATIONAL HISTORY MAGAZINE

Mike — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:05:29 +0000

A story about the Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals organized this summer by the Rural History and Culture Association is featured in the October-November 2009 issue of The Beaver: Canada’s National History Magazine. This is the second article highlighting RHCA programs in The Beaver this year. The RHCA was also mentioned in a column by Christopher Moore in the April-May edition. The Beaver has also included a story about the NWMP Trail events on their website, which includes a slide show featuring a number of photographs from the festivals.

TWENTY-SEVEN PICTURES ADDED TO ROADS LESS TRAVELLED

Mike — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 00:11:17 +0000

Twenty-seven pictures have been added to the RHCA’s Roads Less Travelled Flickr Site. This includes photographs of Gabriel Dumont’s grave site, John Diefenbaker’s first law office and a wide assortment of historic buildings including churches, grain elevators, museums and murals. The bulk of the pictures are from the central Saskatchewan between Batoche National Historic Site and Humboldt but pictures from Biggar and Waseca are also included.

NWMP TRAIL PICTURES ADDED TO RHCA FLICKR SITE

Mike — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 23:03:10 +0000

Trail riders at NWMP Trail markers near Fort Walsh

Thirty-four pictures taken at the six Celebrate the NWMP Trail events held in south-west Saskatchewan between July 1 and August 2, 2009, have been added to the Rural History and Culture Association’s Flickr site and can be viewed there. The pictures include every aspect of the six events including “Spirits of the Trail,” the dramatic re-telling of the story of the friendship between James Walsh of the North-West Mounted Police and Sioux Chieftain Sitting Bull. Other pictures feature First Nations performances and Saskatchewan singer/songwriters.

Pictures of the T-Rex Discovery Centre in Eastend and the Eastend Historical Museum have also been added to the Museum section of the RHCA Flickr site.

A video of the highlights of the Celebrate the NWMP Trail events is currently being produced and should be posted to Youtube sometime in September.

OVER 1600 ATTEND CELEBRATE NWMP TRAIL FESTIVALS

Mike — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:23:38 +0000

Riding the Historic NWMP Trail near Wood Mountain

The sixth and final Celebrate the North-West Mounted Police Trail festival was held at Fort Walsh National Historic Site on August 2, 2009. Over 350 people took in the events at Fort Walsh, which brought the total attendance at the six festivals to over 1600 people. The other festivals were held at Wood Mountain, McCord, Val Marie, Shaunavon and Eastend starting on July 1.

The Fort Walsh event was special because of the participation of the Fort Walsh interpretative staff in the Spirits of the Trail dramatic remembering. This included six interpreters attired in period NWMP uniforms and the firing of the Fort’s cannon to signal the beginning of the Trail ride (the horses were of course a good distance away when the cannon was fired).

Pictures, videos and more information on each of the six festivals will be posted on the RHCA site later in August.

NORTH-WEST MOUNTED POLICE SONG POSTED TO RHCA WEBSITE

Mike — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 03:23:04 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

Tommy-John Ehman of Craik is one of the Saskatchewan singer/songwriters participating in the Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals that are taking place between July 1 and August 2, 2009. Tommy was inspired by the history of the NWMP Trail to write a song especially for performance at the festivals. Appropriately entitled, “The North-West Mounted Police,” the song captures the epic spirit of the Trail and is a tribute to the the NWMP officers who rode the Trail between 1875 and 1912. Tommy premiered the song at the RCMP Heritage Centre in Regina during the Celebrate the NWMP Trail media event on June 25 and performed the song at the Wood Mountain and Val Marie festivals on July 1 and July 24. The video to the right features Tommy’s performance of the song in Val Marie.

The sixth and final Celebrate the NWMP Trail festival takes place at Fort Walsh National Historic Site on August 2, 2009. The schedule includes: “The Spirits of the Trail,” a “horse opera” portraying the relationship between NWMP Officer James Walsh and Sioux Chieftain Sitting Bull written by Ken Mitchell; the History of the Trail by noted historian and award-winning author Garrett Wilson; Everett Baker Trail by the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society; First Nations performances; concerts from Ragtime Don and the Word Junkie and Karen Blackwell Jones and a finale storytelling circle and potluck supper. All this and Fort Walsh National Historic Site will be offering its regular tours!

Over 1000 people attended the first five Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals and pictures, videos and descriptions of the first five events have also been posted to the RHCA website. More pictures and videos will be added after Fort Walsh but if you want to get a taste of what happened at Wood Mountain, McCord, Eastend, Shaunavon and Val Marie be sure to check out the site.

MEGAN NASH & KAREN BLACKWELL JONES VIDEOS ADDED TO RHCA WEBSITE

Mike — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 01:25:13 +0000

Two videos featuring performers from recent Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals in Eastend and Shaunavon have been posted in the music section of the RHCA website. The videos are by Megan Nash of Mortlach and Karen Blackwell Jones of Dinsmore, two of Saskatchewan’s most talented singer/songwriters. Megan’s song called “Sober,” is a homage to “typical” country songs and takes an amusing look at the results of over indulgence. Karen’s beautiful melodies in “Pray for Rain,” contemplated the past, present and future of the family farm.

STILL TIME TO ATTEND LAST TWO NWMP TRAIL FESTIVALS

Mike — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:48:09 +0000

Over 1000 people have already attended Celebrate the NWMP Trail festivals in Wood Mountain, McCord, Eastend and Shaunavon and there is still time to catch part of the excitement in Val Marie on July 24 and Fort Walsh on August 2. Events in Val Marie will include the opportunity to ride into town from parts of the original NWMP Trail that lies outside the town. Both events will conclude with a storytelling and sing-along circle and at Fort Walsh you are invited to participate in a Potluck picnic while in Val Marie their will be a beef and bean supper served by the local committee dedicated to saving the Val Marie elevator.

Pictures and videos from the first four Celebrate the NWMP Trail events have been posted on the RHCA website and more will be coming soon!