As businesses are getting used to the flow of traffic again, others are finding different ways to stay open without actually opening their doors.
Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre also known as Manitou Mounds, is not open to the public, but they have found ways to keep their programs going through the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kayleigh Speirs, administration manager at Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre said they have been offering program online. They currently have a beading circle every Thursday that anyone is welcome to join and even if they do not want to bead, they can work on other crafts.
Speirs said they are only in their third week of the program but that more people have been joining.
“The first couple of weeks were a little rough but last week there was a fair amount and then we’ve gotten a ton of messages from people so I imagine it’ll just keep growing,” Speirs said.
For many businesses, especially those that rely on tourism, 2020 was a tough year and it was no exception for Manitou Mounds. Speirs said it was challenging because the centre was closed for most of the year.
“There was a couple times when we were able to take some small groups but definitely challenging for the whole tourism industry,” Speirs said. “Obviously revenues are down and we miss having people on our sites so it definitely had a pretty big impact.”
Speirs said they were fortunate to be able to apply for some funding. Manitou Mounds was able to receive stimulus from the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada and the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations.
Since the historical centre cannot offer in person workshops, Speirs said they have been putting out different programming kits. Right now they have a beading kit to bead your own red ribbon in support of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and in the past they have done dream catchers and hide rattles.
Speirs said before COVID they would have workshops fairly often, but are now working on online versions.
Speirs said they have been working on one workshop series called Ozhichigan which they offer once a month.
“For those ones usually we’d have a limit to how many people just based on supplies, so they could range anywhere from 10 to 30 people,” Speirs said. “We did have a storytelling one and I think for that one we had around 100 people. It just depends on what was being offered.”
Speirs said they received funding from the Government of Canada and the Rainy River First Nations Trust to be able to start the programming series, and it’s still going strong, she said.
Apart from all the messages they receive about when the centre will open, Speirs said they also get messages about when the trails will be open.
“Generally in the winter we offer skiing and snowshoeing on the trails and we’re hoping to be able to open them just during business hours and we would get people to bring their own equipment,” Speirs said. “It would be just access to the trails, not the buildings but we’re hoping to do that no contact option for people.”
As for the rest of the year, Speirs said they are cautiously optimistic about what will happen, but are continuing to look into different options.
“Even if we can’t open totally normally, we’re looking into maybe booking groups like households so that everyone that lives in the same house could book a tour with us,” Speirs said. “I think we’ll continue with the programming kits and virtual workshops.”
Speirs said those who are interested in joining the beading circle can message their Facebook page or email them to get the Zoom link. As well, the best way for the public to know what they are up to is through their social media pages. People can also email or phone.
