THUNDER BAY – The Thunder Bay Museum is unveiling its new temporary exhibit titled Aftermath 1821: A Union of Rivals on Oct. 15.
“This year is actually the 200th anniversary of the merger of the Hudson’s Bay Company and the North West Company which has these long-lasting impacts on our society,” said executive director Scott Bradley.
“These two fur trading companies coming together readjusted the fur trading routes in Canada, and then that lead to a whole lot of other developments in the industry, the treaty system that we live with, and so, just this one little merger of these companies had these wide-ranging impacts.”
The exhibit at the museum explores the history of both of the companies and the impacts that the merger between them.
“We were the home for Fort William, the centre of fur trade for the North West Company as they were moving it for western Canada to eastern Canada by waterway, and so, that’s part of our history here in Thunder Bay,” Bradley said.
“That connection between indigenous peoples who helped harvest the furs, and were providing a lot of the material support for the North West Company as they moved across the country, as well as this kind of establishment of the Lakehead as a region, as a trans-shipment point, and just moving on from the fur trade, that became the trans-shipment point for all these other industries.”
The opening of the exhibit will happen at the Thunder Bay Museum on Oct. 15 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the exhibit will continue to be on display until spring 2022
This exhibit was made possible through collaboration between The Thunder Bay Museum, the Champlain Society, and Fort William Historical Park, as well as the financial donators to the Museum
For more information on the new exhibit, visit The Thunder Bay Museum Website
