A Tale of Two Missions

Abstract

This paper is an examination of the use of Native content in two contrasting sites, Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Midland, Ontario, and Skä•noñh–Great Law of Peace Center in Syracuse, New York. These two sites share a common history, not only as early French settlements, but also as living history museums established in the twentieth century to memorialize and celebrate seventeenth-century Jesuit missions. Revisiting them today reveals their transformation into two very different museum models, incorporating very different methods of presenting indigenous knowledge. The authors consider how two distinct narratives have evolved in the twenty-first century, and how public memory continues to shape visitor expectations. The paper adds to the conversation about museums’ continuing incorporation of diverse historical narratives into their interpretation and programming as well as a rethinking of the ways in which we produce history for public consumption.