Museums 101: The Swan Valley Museum (photo diary)

by Ojibwa for Museums

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Monday, Apr. 06, 2020 Monday, Apr. 06, 2020 at 7:40:36am PDT

In 1988, the Upper Swan Valley Historical Society was established in Condon, Montana. The goal was to discover, collect, preserve, and interpret materials relating to Montana’s Swan River Valley. Today the Swan Valley Historical Society Museum has displays relating to the area history.

The Building

photo P1120201_zpsfflcep5t.jpg — Shown above is the main museum building and some of the historic buildings which are on the grounds.

photo P1120301_zps9iuu7nxp.jpg — Shown above is the museum floor with which shows the Swan River and its tributaries.

Historic Buildings

On the Museum grounds are several historic buildings, including a tavern, a school, homesteaders’ cabins, and a trapper’s cabin.

The Displays

Native American

The Swan River Valley is part of the aboriginal homeland of the Salish-speaking Pend d’Oreille who are now part of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation. The Pend d’Oreille donated a map to the museum showing the Salish names for the Sweathouse Waters area. According to the map:

“These place-names reflect the great cultural and spiritual importance of the area. For thousands of years, our ancestors lived here sustainably in a relationship of respect with the land and its plants and animals.”

The traditional resources of the area included camas, huckleberries, deer, elk, bull trout, and mountain whitefish. Under the terms of the 1855 Hell Gate Treaty, the Sweat House waters area was not included in the Flathead Reservation, but the tribes retained their rights to hunt, fish, and gather in the area. This continues to be an important tribal area.