BEAR ISLAND - Three exhibitions looking at different aspects of the historic culture in Northern Ontario have been given a boost with a recent funding announcement by the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Temagami First Nation, the North Bay Area Museum Society, and Temiskaming Art Gallery have all been awarded over $55,000 each to go toward three separate projects.
Temagami First Nation has been allocated $58,000 for a project called Oral Histories of n’Daki Menan.
Chief Shelly Moore-Frappier said the project supports Temagami First Nation’s ongoing efforts to reclaim its histories within its home territory, n’Daki Menan.
“Our elders will continue to play a vital role in welcoming our material culture back into our community,” she said in a media release of the funding announcement.
“They will bear witness to this process and share details and stories integral to our history and relationship with the land.”
Chief Moore-Frappier added that she sees the project as being “important to the work of truth-telling and redress that needs to happen in this country if we are to commit to more respectful ways of being in relations with one another.
“It is our people that are the rightful caretakers and stewards of our cultural property despite this legacy of forcibly removing artifacts from our homelands,” she explained.
“As such, we are well-positioned to inform important policies and practices in repatriation initiatives, including those related to ongoing care and access.”
Anthony Rota, Nipissing-Timiskaming MP and Honourable Speaker of the House, said in the media release that he was “happy to see the organizations in Nipissing-Timiskaming getting the assistance they need so that they can put together these important projects that will highlight historic people and events from our region.”
