In Search of Geraldine Moodie by Elizabeth Clements #prairierosepubs

In Search of Geraldine Moodie – Elizabeth Clements

Once again, I’ve been amazed by the capabilities of one’s mind. Several times this past year when I’ve contemplated subject material for a blog, I’d thought of a woman who made quite a name for herself in this area more than a century ago. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember her name and thus wrote about something else. On Friday morning, while still warm in bed, I reminded myself to get my blog written that day and not get myself into a froth at the last minute. (You see, I was born a month premature and I haven’t been on time since.)

Suddenly the name Geraldine popped into my thoughts. Yes, I thought excitedly at the breakthrough— that’s her name. But what’s her last name? Then came the words “In Search Of” and I knew I was onto something. That was part of the book’s title. Keep digging, Brain.

I could search with key words like photographers, female photographers, Maple Creek (where she lived). Heck I even remembered the author, Donny White, our local museum curator back in the ‘90’s. Even bought the book and had it autographed. Okay, where’s the book? It should be with all my Alberta research books. However, Donny’s book is available on Amazon: In Search of Geraldine Moodie by Donny White. He also published a companion book with an extensive list of all her works.

I made breakfast, brought it to the computer and opened a blank page and suddenly her surname popped into my head. Moodie. This just proves what I’ve always said—the brain is an amazing filing cabinet with millions of pieces of information stored in compartments, which takes time to search through before memory shoots the desired information to the surface. Sometimes this delayed memory takes 30 seconds, or 30 minutes or even 30 hours. I think in my case, it’s more like 30 weeks! The wait, for me, is worth it, because I’d like to tell you a bit about this amazing woman. I just wish I could find the book. Here's a pic of the book on Amazon (Click HERE to read about the book): 

Geraldine Fitzgibbon was born on October 31, 1854 in Toronto, Ontario (which was known as Canada West). At an early age she showed an interest in photography, a passion that consumed her life. She married a distant relative, John Douglas Moodie, in England in 1878. They moved to Canada where they farmed for a while in Manitoba before relocating in Ottawa. (this is a self-portrait).

Her husband received a commission with the North West Mounted Police in 1885 and over the next thirty years, his postings took them across the western territories and as far north as the Yukon and the Arctic. And in all those travels by wagon, train, boat and dogsled, she lugged all her cameras and equipment through six pregnancies, taking thousands of photographs of ranching life, the mounted police in uniform, as well as the flora and fauna and portraits of the indigenous people of the west and the Yukon. When one considers the time this woman lived in, then her stamina is especially amazing.

In 1895 she was the first woman to photograph the First Nations annual Sun Dance celebrations.  This won her the attention of the Prime Minister who in 1896 commissioned her to photograph the sites of the Louis Riel Rebellion. She took many portraits of indigenous people in the Hudson Bay region as well as Regina, Saskatchewan (1904-1909). When her husband was posted to Maple Creek, District of Assiniboia (now known as Saskatchewan), she fell in love with the beauty of the Cypress Hills (where my trilogy is set). Just looking at the pictures of the overview of the Cypress Hills that my son took, one can well understand her love of the land and the people and how their culture became the major subject of her photographs.

While her husband was away mapping an overland route to the Yukon, she opened her second photography studio in Maple Creek in 1897 and a third in Medicine Hat to capture the people and the history of the region. Many of these photographs of early Canadian history are on permanent exhibit at the Glenbow Museum Calgary, Alberta and the British Museum in London, England. The town of Maple Creek has a museum which I hope to visit this summer. I’m sure this museum must contain a collection of her photography.

After her husband retired in 1917, they lived for a few more years in Maple Creek, then moved to Vancouver Island for a time, then to Calgary in 1944. Geraldine died on October 4, 1945 at the age of 99 years at the home of her granddaughter, the Countess of Egmont. It’s an intriguing tidbit that her granddaughter was a countess living in Alberta. I have to find my copy of Donny’s book and refresh my memory. But a wee search revealed this short video of their British/Irish aristocracy: 

Geraldine Moodie is one of Canada’s first professional female photographers, bringing alive the culture of the Canadian west and the Arctic. In her writings, she mentions needing to modify her techniques because of the glare of the snow and the harsh weather. As is often the case, she was her own worst critic. Only time would show the valuable contribution she made to bringing our history alive through her artistic eye.

     A stamp depicting Moodie's photograph, Koo-tuck-tuck, was issued on 22 March 2013 by Canada Post as part of their Canadian Photography series.^[12][13] The image shows a traditionally dressed Inuit woman.

https://postagestampguide.com/stamps/18482/koo-tuck-tuck-photograph-2013-canada-postage-stamp-canadian-photography

Her work was part of a 2017 exhibition, See North of Ordinary, The Arctic Photographs of Geraldine and Douglas Moodie at the Glenbow Museum.

https://www.glenbow.org/exhibitions/past/2016-2017/moodie-photograghs/

At the link below, you can see a beautiful collection of portraits of Inuit people, including koo-tucki-tuck holding her child.

https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/331366485061936889/?lp=true

I have provided several links to view Geraldine’s work so that I do not incur any copyright issues for the photographs. For more pictures of the Cypress Hills, Fort Walsh and pictures of a day in the life of a mounted policeman, please visit my website at www.elizabethclements.com