Making Pemmican at the Pembina State Museum: The Food of the Fur Trade When fresh, pemmican has a waxy, gritty texture and a fatty, beefy flavor. While pemmican can store indefinitely if kept dry, its flavor does not improve with age. Pemmican is a food made of a mix of dried meat and fat. As George Colpitts notes in his book, Pemmican Empire: Food, Trade, and the Last Bison Hunts in the North American Plains, 1780-1882, the name came from the Cree word pemigan and means “he makes grease.” The grease came from bone marrow and was mixed with harder fats by Native Americans to produce traditio ..read more

Snail Mail Past: Historical Stationery From the State Archives Inspires Director’s Letterhead I cannot count all the ways people can send an electronic message to one another these days. Email, text, Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn, Teams, Zoom, Twitter, direct message—the list seems endless. Even the once exalted method of the telephone has receded into a dim, distant place behind these other forms of messaging. People now regularly text me to see if I am able or willing to take a call. While most days I don’t feel particularly old, I fondly remember dial phones and the excitement of coming hom ..read more

Adventures in Archaeology Collections: A Tour of the Big Collections Room In past blog posts, I gave a sneak peek at the initial processing lab and the main archaeology lab. Today, let’s take a tour of the big archaeological collections storage room. Comparisons have been made to the warehouse at the end of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”—but don’t worry, we have much better finding aids. We want people to be able to find the artifacts in the big archaeological collections storage room and use them for research, exhibits, and educational events. This room was designed to hold at least 20 years of ..read more

A Marvel-ous World of Superheroes Heads to the State Museum If your Spidey senses are tingling, it may be because Marvelocity: The Art of Alex Ross is coming to the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum. The traveling exhibition, developed by the Bess Bower Dunn Museum of Lake County, Illinois, will bring the gravity-defying world of Marvel Comic illustrations to Bismarck from March 16 through June 9, 2024. Spider-Man, Marvelocity Cover, 2018 The exhibition includes more than 50 original illustrations, including cover art, storyboards, preliminary drawings, sculptures, and even a s ..read more

At the State Archives, We Want To Know You Better! Take the time to fill in the State Archives’ survey and help us serve you better. The State Archives has launched a short demographic survey, the first in a series, and we invite you to participate! As stewards of the documentary history of North Dakota and its people, we want to know the people we serve, how we can improve our services, and how we can bring new interest to the wonderful world of archives and historical research. The State Archives’ resources can help patrons solve genealogical mysteries. Our overarching goals are to get be ..read more

A Dog Blog: 5 Things Shaped Like Dogs in the State Museum Collections February is the month of love. Do you know what I love? Dogs! Here are some artifacts in our museum collections that make me say, “What a good boi!” 1. Doorstops Shaped like Boston terriers, this set of cast-iron doorstops held open doors in the Devils Lake area around the 1930s. The Hubley Manufacturing Company is well-known for cast-iron toys, but they also created doorstops, bookends, and door knockers. These helpful pups were originally sold with a leather collar and a leash. Sturdy silent types. SHSND 16695.1-2 2. Nut ..read more

A Matter of Interpretation: Bringing History to Life at State Historic Sites Learning how to tell stories objectively isn’t always easy. Not many people realize it, but the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and Fort Mandan State Historic Site where I work is staffed with team members who are nationally certified in interpretation. To obtain certification, our staff attends training courses offered through the National Association for Interpretation (NAI). These are weeklong programs, which teach the core principles of interpretation. One might ask, “What is interpretation?” NAI defines it ..read more

Digitizing Archaeological Collections: Advancing Research, Preservation, and Data Management Archaeology collections management involves organizing and systematically caring for archaeological artifacts, specimens, records, and associated materials. Proper management is crucial to ensure the preservation, accessibility, and long-term research potential of these collections (Knoll and Huckell 2019). Maintaining high-quality curation standards goes beyond storage enhancement and environmental monitoring. It involves meticulous organization, comprehensive documentation, and secure storage t ..read more

Happy New Year? Remembering Y2K in the Museum Collections While we look upon most new years with great anticipation and excitement for the possibilities of what the upcoming 12 months will bring, the preparations for the turn of the millennium brought fear and trepidation along with hope. Faced with the prospect of calamitous computer problems posed by the Y2K bug, people prepared to shelter in place or alternately to “party like it's 1999.” Some artifacts in the museum collections show the variety of activities and emotions associated with the coming of the new millennium. The specter of Y2K ..read more

Road to the North Dakota Blue Book: A “Treasure Trove” of State Information When the 2023-2025 North Dakota Blue Book is unveiled in a ceremony this Wednesday at the state Capitol, the event will mark the culmination of a two-year effort by the secretary of state’s office, other state employees, and volunteers to compile what Gov. Doug Burgum has called “a treasure trove of information about all things North Dakota.” Double Ditch Indian Village State Historic Site outside Bismarck is featured on the cover of the new North Dakota Blue Book. Secretary of State Michael Howe said the biennial Bl ..read more