New Galt exhibit based on personal choices

By Lethbridge Herald on October 16, 2025.

Alexandra Noad
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Galt Museum has over 17,000 artifacts in its archives, and invited 100 people of all ages into the vault to pick their favourites for the museum’s latest exhibit, Treasures and Curiosities. 

Nearly 200 artifacts are on display, all of which are accompanied by an explanation from the person who selected the item.

These artifacts range from tools used by the Blackfoot people prior to colonization, to historic items such as medical equipment and trophies, to an 80-year-old pickle jar — with pickles included.

Tyler Stewart, curator at the Galt Museum, says his favourite part of the exhibit is seeing the reasoning behind the choices made, especially in the youth section.

“One of my favourite parts of this exhibition is the stories people told about why they picked what they picked, particularly with the kids, their reasons for picking stuff are so much different than the thinking process of why adults pick certain things.”

Stewart says the thinking process of kids was also enjoyable to watch, such as the jar of pickles being chosen solely based on the child’s enthusiasm for pickles. He says it’s also important to give children the same VIP opportunities the adults were given.

“I think it’s a good experience to treat children like adults and to trust them and bring them along for an experience where they see thinks like what an adult role of working in a museum is like.”

Camina Weasel Moccasin, curator for the Galt Museum, says she got to see how infectious history is, with her own children as well as others.

“Coming in with my children was fun because they got a little taste of what my job is, so to be able to enter into the vault, look at what we have there to decide what gets brought out and give a reasoning for it, I know my children really enjoyed that.”

She adds her son has been talking about wanting to work in a museum ever since visiting the archives.

Watching children explore the archives really drilled home the importance of preserving history for Weasel Moccasin.

“It teaches children that history is precious and it’s something we need to work together to manage and protect and there’s many different ways to do that.”

She adds that it’s important to make history accessible for everyone, even if it poses some challenges such as bringing children into an archive vault.

One of the ways the museum makes itself accessible is by having its entire collection in a searchable online database, which can be accessed around the clock.

This database was an essential part of the process in developing the exhibit, where volunteers such as Louisa Seitz, a collections intern at the Galt Museum and a fourth-year history major student at the University of Lethbridge, learned how to navigate the database to help the VIPs pick exactly what they wanted for the exhibit.

Seitz says this experience not only brought the stories of the objects to life, but also helps keep history alive which otherwise would be protected and preserved.

“With the Galt Archives having 17,000 artifacts, the ones that are stored in the vault are protected and preserved, but if they’re not shared, that knowledge is blocked or hidden, so with Treasures and Curiosities, when you’re sharing it and connecting with it, it lives on in that way and (you’re) supporting to keep the history alive.”

The Galt Museum will be hosting a launch party on Saturday from 1-5 p.m. which will also include an antiques appraisal event by Sheldon Smithens, owner of Smithens Antiques since 1992, who has conducted appraisals for numerous museums across the prairies.

Those wanting appraisals done for family heirlooms can sign up on the Galt Museum’s website. The exhibit which will run until next March.