The Sego Exchange: An Exhibit Exploring the Historical Transmission of Food Ways in the Intermountain West

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2021-04-26

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Southern New Hampshire University

Abstract

The Sego Exchange is a virtual Omeka exhibit exploring the cultural interaction between the Mormon pioneers and the Native Americans of Utah. The exhibition uses the sego lily as an introduction to this exchange but contends that beyond the sego lily, Native Americans in Utah shared many edible plants with the Mormon pioneers, which contributed to their survival in settlement of the Intermountain West. The exhibit does this by exploring primary sources such as pioneer journals and autobiographies while comparing them to ethnobotanical and historical records of the indigenous peoples' food sources found in the Rockies and Great Basin. The exhibit is specially targeted to the Monte L. Bean Museum visitors, an audience of families and older primary school children. The exhibition also highlights the Bean Museum's herbarium collection to introduce edible plants to the exhibit's visitors.

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