February 2018

Monthly Archive: February 2018

When Whaling is Your Tradition

Posted: February 27, 2018 - 15:35 , by Hellen Fu
Inuit community standing on and near a recently hunted bowhead whale on beach

Guest blog written by Environmental Visual Communication student Ursula McClintock

In some Indigenous communities around the world, whaling is as much a part of their tradition as my family’s turkey dinner at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Whale hunting has played an integral role in feeding Inuit communities for millennia. Bowhead whales, among many other species of whales, were hunted to near extinction at the turn of the 20th century. Yet more often than not, Indigenous communities are cast in the same light as the commercial groups that are responsible for the near collapse of populations of these iconic marine animals.

Celebrating Chinese New Year: Dogs in Ancient China

Posted: February 15, 2018 - 17:38 , by Diana Lu
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 Photo of a sculpture of a dog

Ridge tile with a dog
Moulded earthenware, glaze
Ming-Qing Dynasty (17th-19th century)
921.1.232
The George Crofts Collection

By Kara Ma

What is it? Unexpected Life in Downtown Toronto

Posted: February 14, 2018 - 12:51 , by ROM
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Ostracoda, Podocopida. photo by Antonia Guidotti

ROM Natural History staff often receive specimens for identification.

In entomology, they frequently receive and identify common household pests, however, they recently received something a little bit more unusual. A community centre in the city, operating an Aquaponics lab, sent in a sample of some tiny, mysterious critters they found on the roots of their plants. Concerned they may be causing the plants harm, they were hoping the staff at the ROM could give them some insight as to what they were.

Trees for Life in Lakefield

Posted: February 8, 2018 - 10:46 , by Hellen Fu
Children playing in a large tree

Guest blog written by Environmental Visual Communication student Fenella Hood

When Rebecca Rose left her home in Leslieville and moved her three young children to the quaint village of Lakefield, she felt secure in the belief that she was improving their lot in life. Then one day a notice was slipped through her door from the Township of Selwyn announcing her next-door neighbour's severance application to build a second house and increase his selling power. His small corner lot boasts a stand of seven mature trees that will need to be cut down to make room for the build. “It felt like being kicked in the stomach. I don't want those trees to die, and I don't want to tell my kids.”

Wu Dacheng: ROM Chinese Jades at the Suzhou Museum

Posted: February 1, 2018 - 15:35 , by Diana Lu
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As part of a special exhibition entitled Collections of the Wu Family From Suzhou in the Qing Dynasty (December 16, 2017, to March 11, 2018), the Royal Ontario Museum lent 28 Chinese jades to the Suzhou Museum. This exhibition, curated by the Suzhou Museum, constitutes the second in the series of Suzhou Collectors from the Qing dynasty. The ROM is amongst several lenders that contributed to this special exhibition.