THUNDER BAY – Fort William Historical Park kicked off its annual Anishinaabe Keeshigun on Saturday.
Patrick Morash, general manager of Fort William Historical Park, said it’s an exciting celebration of all things Indigenous culture.
“It's a real opportunity to present so many aspects of Indigenous culture to the community.
“Food is really important, dancing, drumming. You'll see lots of colours of the regalia of the dancers and drummers. It's a real range of opportunities to celebrate. A focus on different types of crafts, different types of food and music and dancing,” he said.
Morash said the event has been going on for over 30 years at Fort William Historical Park.
“Indigenous culture and the relationship to Indigenous people historically was absolutely essential to the functioning of Fort William and the success of the fur trade. So, it's an opportunity from a historical perspective to present that to the community. Today it's as important as it was historically.
“It's a real opportunity for us to work with many partners in the community who are either Indigenous themselves, working with Indigenous organizations, and also promoting various aspects of culture and heritage.”
Anishinaabe Keeshigun is a free event for people to come see a range of Indigenous culture and heritage in one place, Morash said.
“It's an easy way for members of our community to learn what our Indigenous friends provide. It's also an excellent opportunity to see a number of different things all at the same time.
“They can experience the food, the dancing, the drumming, the entire culture, the crafts and the skills that were so important historically. You'll see opportunities to experience fish net weaving, for example. And snowshoe making using traditional means.
“It's a real opportunity for people to experience that broad range of culture,” he said.
Morash said this year the Historical Park worked together with Fort William First Nation for this event.
“Of course, as our neighbouring Indigenous community, we want to include them and involve them in the activities here and the events here. We worked with them very closely to help promote the event and to support the event.
“This year we're working with them to actually provide free transportation for members from Fort William First Nation to get here over the course of two days.”
It’s hard to know how many people will attend events like this as they depend on the weather, Morash said.
“They also are impacted by other events taking place in the community as well. We know there are lots of things for people to do in Thunder Bay.
“We'll expect between several hundred to 1,000 people over the course of a couple of days,” Morash said.
Anishinaabe Keeshigun will end on Saturday with a community feast after 5 p.m. open to all visitors. It will be back on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
