In June 2024, while the Olympics were being set up across the city of Paris, France, Ann Marie Murnaghan began the archival research for the project. At the Museum of National History (Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle https://www.mnhn.fr/en ), she collected hundreds of images from scrapbooks, publications, letters, and important documents relating to the Kegit Pole (Wit’suwit’en), and the Heraldic Bear Pole (Tsimshian). The museum’s records, international news publications, and even advertising images were contained in the files that had been referred to by French researchers. The Archives at the Quai Branly Museum (Musée du quai Branly - Jacques Chirac https://www.quaibranly.fr/) were also tremendously informative and included information on the recent restoration of the Kegit Pole, the influence of the Canadian National Railways in the pole’s collection, and other interesting connections between the team’s research and events in Paris in the 1930s. Over 800 images were collected including documents, artifacts, and publications. The team looks forward to processing the images, translating their contents, and aggregating their findings into forthcoming journal articles and policy briefs.
