Additional Images

Provenance:

Charles Camsell Hospital, Edmonton, AB, with two ink stamps;
From the Estate of Mildred Valley Thornton Hon. CPA, FRSA, Canada, accompanied by a letter dated 7th September 2015 from Bryan Thornton, Mildred’s Grandson, and with Mildred Thornton’s partial label affixed to under, with hand written inventory no. 121. 59;
Private collection, Toronto, ON

Note:

The Charles Camsell Hospital served as a sanatorium for the natives of western and northern Canada. Between 1945 and 1967, the hospital operated a handicraft therapy program for the inpatients. Some 400 works were retained by the hospital and kept in their collection until 1990, when they were donated to the Royal Alberta Museum (Edmonton, AB).

Due to the government relocation program of the 1950s, the Charles Camsell Hospital had patients from across the arctic, including as far Inukjuak and Grise Fiord. Likewise, the hospital served patients from the Kainai Nation from southern Alberta. “People with diverse cultural backgrounds were gathered together at the hospital for extended periods. The artifacts and archival material reflect the cross-cultural influences of the Camsell experience.”