War Eagle 'Wanmdi Kecizapi'. Labeled by early historians as Yankton Sioux, War Eagle posed for the photographer wearing war shirt of the old style, quilled arm and shoulder bands, holding a tacked and quilled pipe. Prominent Sioux warriors were known to wear buffalo horn bonnets during dances and on war parties. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
Inscription on back: Robert Mancuso, a member of the Sioux Valley band, residing in Brandon, MB, has been developing his art since childhood. It is only recently, however, that he's been working in the native style, reflecting the spirituality that comes from the native view of things. He has undertaken native art classes at Brandon University that he says has greatly influenced his direction. He says it is like stepping through a new door into a world full of wonders waiting to be explored through his art. Contemporary native art is exciting and challenging to work in. He says 'it always has a horizon'. This picture, depicted in ink, represents the four elements showing the sun as fire, buffalo as earth, eagle as wind, and the lines as water. He has tried to convey the feeling of the spiritual force as it moves, with boldness across the vastness of the plains.
Jack Shadbolt was born in Shoeburyness, England in 1909. His home in Canada is Vancouver; Shadbolt also resided in New York and Southern France for prolonged periods of time. After his stay at the Mediterranean, Shadbolt's palette lightened and his medium changed to oil. His work became abstract, mosaic-like, creating architectonic vision by splitting color. Shadbolt is considered one of Canada's most important abstract artists. (The Crisis of Abstraction in Canada. Denise Lecler. P.178-9). Jack Shadbolt taught at the Vancouver School of Art and, before his retirement in 1966, was a catalyst for West Coast art as a teacher, lecturer and writer. 'Rocks' is one of the artist's earlier pieces - representational in subject matter and executed in watercolor, his first medium. (1996 inventory)
Only weeks after they had been ordered by Agent McLaughlin (center) to arrest Sitting Bull as an attempt to calm the growing unrest from the Messiah Craze (Ghost Dance), the Sioux police pose victoriously for Barry's camera. The arrest attempt was disastrous, resulting in the deaths of six Indian police, Sitting Bull, his son Crow Foot and eight of Crow's followers. The panic which followed culminated in the infamous Wounded Knee affair two weeks later. Red Tomahawk (front center) killed Sitting Bull. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
Most of the photos are in peel and stick albums and the albums have a number of condition issues
History / Biographical
Valleyview Leisure Club (VLC) began in April 1978 as a senior's activity group in conjunction with Valleyview Community Centre. The impetus for the creation of the group was a meeting between John Svenson, Regional Director for Westman Seniors, and seniors in the Valleyview area who met to discuss the organization of a seniors club. At the time the club was established, space was limited at the Community Centre because some school classes were held there during the construction of Riverheights School. However, a New Horizons grant enabled the VLC to remodel and furnish the basement area of the Valleyview Community Centre for the Leisure Club. A Grand Opening of the space was held in May of 1980; there was a special luncheon and the offical ribbon was cut by Hon. Ed McGill.
The Valleyview Leisure Club was run by a board and its associated committees and governed by a constitution. Members were charged an annual membership fee, as well as user fees for the various activities. In the early years, the CLub had monthly membership business meetings in conjunction with an evening meal and entertainment. The use of the basement area was varied and included: cards; shuffleboard and other games; craft activities; fundraisers; raffles; dances; and luncheons, dinners and potlucks. The space was also rented out for private functions, particularly special birthdays and anniversary's of community members. The Club made annual contibutions to the parent Community Centre, as well as helping the Community Centre functions (winter carnival etc.)
In the course of time, the activities of the VLC became more focused on cribbage and bridge, with several regular groups scheduled at regular weekly time slots. At the time of the organization's disbanding, the following groups were active: Friday afternoon contract bridge - the "original" bridge group at the Centre; Tuesday afternoon cribbage; Thursday afternoon "Retired Educators" contract bridge - this group had played in vacant space at Neelin School up until around 1989. Its membership was eventually opened up to anyone who wanted to play in that time slot; Wheat City Duplicate Bridge Club - formed in the City as a sanctioned club and had a number of locations around town. When it moved to the Leisure Club, it came as a renter only, but chose in 2012 to join as VLC members; and Monday afternoon duplicate bridge - in an effort to increase the number of duplicate bridge plays, a "beginners" duplicate group was established with lessons, which proved to be a popular decision. The group thrived and most of the Thursday evening playser began to paly at this time also/or instead.
The VLC hosted a Spring and a Fall Bridge Tournament each year, open to anyone, with invitations going to surrounding areas. As well as cash prizes, a cash donation was given to a local charity. In latter years these donations were $500 per tournament. An annual Christmas Dinner was another popular event. It was a catered event, at least in the later years, and was offered at a subsidized price to members. The club also made a donation to Christmas Cheer at this time.
At some point in the organization's history the VLC came to be seen as a tenant of the Valleyview Community Centre, paying a rent of $3000 per year for its use of the basement space, as well as some maintenance expenses. When the Valleyview Community Centre voted to raise the rent to $12,000 per year within two years, the VLC sought other options.
The VLC settled on Prairie Oasis Senior Centre for a nubmer of reasons. First, it offered to provide space for each of the club's existing card groups at the same time slots with no membership fees. Second, the move would also eliminate the increasingly difficult task of fielding a board of directors to run the club. Finally, the Prairie Oasis location offered the advantage of level access; the basement location of the VLC had excluded several of the club's former members with mobility issues.
Effective September 1, 2014, the Valleyview Leisure Club was dissolved. The club disposed of equipment either by donating it to Prairie Oasis or to Valleyview Community Centre. Once all debts were cleared the Board voted to distribute the cash assets to the following local charities: Big Brothers and Sisters; Food For Thought; Humane Society; Prairie Oasis Senior Centre/Meals on Wheels; Salvation Army; Samaritan House; Seniors For Seniors Co-op Inc.; The Soup Kitchen; Westman Regional Hospital; Westman Hospice; and Y Kids.
Custodial History
Records were created and collected by Valleyview Leisure Club and donated to the S.J. McKee Archives by Barry Reilly following the disbandment of the club in 2015.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of records created and maintained by the Valleyview Leisure Club to document their activities and membership. The records detail club events, finances, insurance and meetings.
Records include meeting minutes, agendas, posters, correspondence, budget plans, grants, constitutions, newspaper clippings, membership lists, phone directories, membership rosters, financial statements, secretarial records, photo albums and other miscelleanous records.
Notes
History/Bio information was provided by the Valleyview Leisure Club. Description by Amanda Gramchuk (October 2016) and Christy Henry.
See RG 6, sub-series 4.1 Vice-President (Academic and Research) and 4.2 Vice-President (Administration and Finance) for history/bio information.
Scope and Content
Series consists of records generated and collected by the Office of the Vice-President in the course of performing its functions. The fonds has been divided into two sub-series, including: (1) Vice-President (Academic and Research); and (2) Vice-President (Administration and Finance).
Notes
A portion (2.3 m) of the records in this series are unprocessed.
