Fire 14 — The Great forest fire of 1980

May 21, 2010 will mark the 30th anniversary of Fire 14, a massive forest fire that saw 3,600 local residents airlifted to Manitoba.  The exhibition will revisit this memorable event through pictures, testimonials, archival material and more.   If you lived through Fire 14 and would like to share your story for this project,  please contact us.   We’d love to hear from you. 

Red Lake’s Immigration Story:  Year 2

Who were the immigrants and displaced people who came to Red Lake to start a new life?  Where did they come from and why did they leave their home country? This exhibit will feature over 50 immigrant biographies, as well as photos, artifacts and archival records showing how new immigrants  found their way to Red Lake.  The exhibit will also acknowledge their contributions to the economic and social development of the community.

Red Lake and the Second World War
Showing November 11th -December 31st 2009

This special exhibit features artifacts, stories and photographs portraying Red Lake during World War II and Red Lake's contributions
toward the Canadian war effort.

A One Way Ticket: Red Lake's Immigration Story

 

By the mid 60s, the Red Lake area had become a multi-cultural hub, a community where people of many different languages, faiths, cultures and political affiliations worked and lived side by side. 

To build the prosperous and vibrant community that Red Lake is today, it was necessary for all residents to get along, no matter what their relationships had been in their homeland.  By working together, people of all kinds of cultural backgrounds, ethnicities and histories learned that they were all on common ground, and in the process came to accept one another.  Their children played together, went to school together, and married one another.  Some families moved to other parts of Canada, but many stayed in the Red Lake area.  Today, approximately 50% of Red Lake’s population is comprised of first generation immigrants and their descendants.

Building Cross-Cultural Understanding of the Pikangikum Cultural Landscape:                          An Exhibit of Art and Research

Showing September 22nd -October 30th 2009

The Whitefeather Forest Research Cooperative was established with the purpose of working with Pikangikum Elders to carry out community-based research and documentation in support of the Whitefeather Forest Initiative. Pikangikum First Nation entered into a letter of agreement with the University of Manitoba, Lakehead University and the University of Winnipeg in the fall of 2004. Since that time, Pikangikum First Nation, the Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba and Ontario Parks, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources have been working on building cross-cultural understanding of the Pikangikum Landscape.

Showing September 15th -October 30th 2009

Obishikokkang is the name of the village on Lac Seul that is home to Ahmoo Angeconeb, one of the leading figures in contemporary Anishnabe art today. Over the last 8 years, Angeconeb has worked intermittently on an extended series of drawings which amount to a private meditation on racial origins, family circumstance, personal history, and cultural heritage. He has carefully developed his own visual syntax based on the ancient forms and the oral traditions of his people.

Some paleolithic European imagery is incorporated in this contemplation. As part of this artist's working process, each drawing is preceded by a prayer, and over time the reverence and austerity of that activity has imbued the whole series.

All works are executed in blue and white pencil crayon on black paper, lending the series a special dignity.

Red Lake's Golden Age of Fastball -Honouring Pitcher Ron Bucker
Showing June 27th—August 31st, 2009

 
Between 1956 and 1965, Red Lake was the hotbed of fastball in Ontario. Some of the best players in the province lived here, and the calibre of competition attracted teams from across Canada and Northern United States.

A young pitcher named Ron Buckler dominated Red Lake's fastball scene throughout this period and was key to the league's success. Renowned for his blinding speed and superb control, Ron could have played professional ball, but her chose to stay in Red Lake. He remained involved in local sports for over 30 years, coaching and mentoring many young athletes.

This exhibits highlights Ron Buckler's outstanding career and features artifacts, stories and photos documenting Red Lake's most memorable fastball moments.

This spectacular new exhibit features the stunning work of artist Gerald Kuehl, who has
spent years capturing the stories and faces of Manitoba's Inuit, Metis and First Nations Elders.

Kuehl's graphite pencil portraits are so realistic that they're often mistaken for photographs.
Each portrait is a labour of love for the artist, who spends 75 - 100 hours capturing each
Elder's likeness. There are 30 portraits in this exhibit, each accompanied by biographical
text in English, French, Cree, and Inuktitut.

Sadly, several of the people Kuehl drew for Portraits of the North exhibit have already
passed away.

This healing quilt entitled "Where are the children? Healing the Legacy of Residential schools" can now
be seen at the Heritage Centre.

This was a joint project between the Centre and a number of individuals including Alice Olsen Williams,
Kaaren Dannenmann and a group of Red Lake Madsen school students. This project stemmed from the
Residential School Exhibit (Where Are the Children? Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools) that the
Centre hosted for two months in the winter of 2006.

Three Centuries of Fur Trading

The exhibit explains the history of the two most powerful fur trading companies, their
battle to stay on top and the outcome. The relationship between Aboriginal women
and the fur traders is explored and a special local section highlights the history of the
Hudson's Bay Company and other fur traders in Red Lake.

The Hudson's Bay Company Calendar Images 

Spanning over 300 years the Hudson’s Bay Company holds a rich history in the development
of Canada. The company’s annual calendar, was first launched in 1913 and initially began as a promotional tool to display the company’s colourful image, soon became a Canadian tradition.
Not only did these calendars display scenes of landscapes, seascapes, and patriotic images
but they also represented some of the best talent in Canadian art.

Frank Reid, former Cochenour resident and HBC store manager, saw the importance of these
calendars and began collecting them. The earliest in his collection dates from 1919. Frank
realized these calendars would one day be of historical significance. His descendants
donated the collection to the museum for everyone to enjoy in 2002.

Residential Schools: The Red Lake Story

The Red Lake Story was developed to tell the story of what happened in Red Lake.
Where were the children sent? And what happened when they returned?

The Heritage Centre decided to focus on only two local Residential Schools, McIntosh Residential School, located near Vermillion Bay and Pelican Lake Residential School, located near Sioux Lookout. The majority of Red Lake's surivors attended these two schools.

Where are the Children?
Healing the Legacy of Residential Schools
A travelling Exhibit developed by Library and Archives Canada and the Legacy of Hope Foundation



This national travelling exhibit was displayed at the Heritage Centre from January 2006 until
March 2006. This exhibit consisted of 100 photos of residential schools across Canada. It was
curated by Jeff Thomas (far right in photo) There was very little text in this exhibit leaving it
up to the visitors to take in each image.

We had  1500 people visited the Centre to see this exhibit. They included students, teachers,
principles, child and family care service employees, residential school survivors and many
many others.