Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre, known to many as Manitou Mounds, will open for the summer season on Saturday, May 10, following a long winter closure; the seasonal opening coincides with the opening of a new temporary exhibit as well.
Archivist and Grant Manager for the historic site Jessie Richard says they’re excited to be opening an exhibit featuring the work of Nadya Kwandibens called The Red Chair Sessions.
“I had seen it before, The Muse (Lake of the Woods Museum) co-owns it with the artist, so I had seen it a couple of times on my travels and I saw that The Muse was holding it and so I applied to loan it about a year and a half ago,” Richard said.
“I’m just super pumped to be bringing fine art experiences to the Rainy River District.”
“The Red Chair sessions is an ongoing open call portrait series that places importance on the acknowledgement and reclamation of Indigenous lands and the revitalization of Indigenous languages,” a description of the show says. “This series ultimately disrupts colonial narratives, centres Indigenous Peoples who have been here since time immemorial and reminds us that we are all guests on indigenous land.”
“The colour red represents Indigenous Peoples on the Medicine Wheel and, in this series, signifies Indigenous Peoples’ inherent connection to the land and to ancestral bloodlines,” says an article on the website of The Muse.
“Whether sitting on or standing beside the red chair, one feels grounded and firmly rooted; the act itself and the resulting portrait serves as a reminder of our responsibility to steward the lands upon which we walk.”
Richard says she really appreciates the way the exhibit shows the subject’s perspective.
“I think the really cool part about it is that accompanying each photograph, is text in the subject’s perspective or perspective indigenous language, or it’s a mix of languages,” she said.
“So it includes names gifted or given in ceremony, and it’s written either in English or syllabics, the nation which that person in that photograph belongs to, and the place names of traditional and treaty areas in which, the [portrait] sessions occurred, and so in that way, indigenous voices are being amplified and become a refusal of the colonial language while pointing out the erasure of Indigenous stories.”
The exhibit will open with a ceremonial opening on Saturday starting at Noon, including an opening prayer and drum opening, then Kwandibens will be there to give an artist’s talk.
Aside from the new temporary exhibit, the Historical Centre, which is owned by Rainy River First Nations, features the largest collection of Ojibwe Burial Mounds in Canada, as well as a museum which explores the beginning of time to present through Ojibwe lives.
“The Museum typically hosts a bit of different programming and events that are, for the most part, free for all people to join and we are a centre that focuses very strictly on education and experience and cultural reconnection,” Richard said.
The Museum offers guided tours of the grounds by golf cart, explaining the location and the various burial mounds around the centre. Visitors are also welcome to walk the trails on their own.
After your hike or tour, if you’re feeling hungry, you can stop at the museum’s restaurant which offers local traditional fare like wild rice soup and bannock burgers and many other option.
