British Columbia has noticed the deep aboriginal history put on display this year at The Exploration Place.
The Prince George museum and science centre opened Hodul'eh-a on National Aboriginal Day. Translated to mean "a place of learning," Hodul'eh-a is a permanent display that tells the story of the region's founding culture, the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation, and other indigenous communities of the region.
This past week, The Exploration Place won the B.C. Museum Association's Award of Merit - Exhibitions.
"This award means a lot to my team here at the museum," said Tracy Calogheros, The Exploration Place's CEO. "To be recognized by your peers in an industry with so many talented professionals is much more than just the proverbial feather in the cap. The relationship between the museum and the Lheidli T'enneh represents decades of collaboration and friendship that culminated so meaningfully this past June with the signing of an MOU and the opening of this wonderful new permanent gallery and programming space."
The local reaction to the exhibit has been strong and positive, said Calogheros. The public understood immediately the museum's desire to provide permanent cultural context within their walls, especially since the facility literally sits on the site of the village where the Lheidli T'enneh resided prior to their ousting in the few years preceding the arrival of the railroad.
In 2016, the City of Prince George renamed that expanse of land Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park. The opening of Hodul'eh-a in 2017 was another step on the road to a new, progressive, partnership-based relationship with the area's traditional culture.
The exhibit is much more than a corner display. It is a growing and future-looking internal facility where local aboriginality can be studied and academically studied.
"As we take the first baby steps towards repatriation of Lheidli T'enneh artifacts from other museums in Canada and beyond, recognition like this award helps to assure colleagues, who may never have been to Prince George, that we are indeed a suitable partner for this complex work," said museum curator Alyssa Tobin.
According to Calogheros, Tobin focused "countless hours of research and collaboration" with Lheidli T'enneh contacts to ensure the Hodul'eh-a exhibit was built appropriately. Elders like Edie Frederick were critical for the accurate identification and language translation involved in selecting and depicting of artifacts.
"There are only six or seven fluent speakers of the Lheidli dialect of Dakelh still living and we are working hard to capture as much of the language as we can in all of our galleries," said Tobin. "The elders have been so supportive and engaged as we worked through the first phases of this project; I am really proud of this award that recognizes how successful our partnership is."
The enabling money to build the exhibit - a $75,000 grant - came from the Canada 150 funding allocations of the federal and provincial governments. From that substantial seed came additional money from other supporters and sponsors who had confidence in the outcome.
"I have an exceptional team here at the museum," said Calogheros.
"They can stretch a dollar into ten and built an exceptional and welcoming space, but it would not have been possible without the funding provided by the province and the ongoing support of the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George."
Consultation with Lheidli elders is ongoing as the project now moves into the program development phase.
