On Saturday, November 8, 2025, Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre, also known as Manitou Mounds, will unveil “To Serve and Protect: Indigenous Voices of Valour,” an exhibit that showcases the stories of indigenous veterans.
Jessie Richard is the Archivist and Grant Manager at Manitou Mounds who has worked on the exhibit.
“The exhibit is really focussing on the honour roll, how people were conscripted, services available to Indigenous veterans versus non-Indigenous veterans,” she said.
The Historical Centre had an Indigenous veterans exhibit last year called “Ogichidaa: Warrior, Veteran,” which Richard says was more personal, but this one will focus more on the “mechanics of it all.”
This year’s exhibit is a step towards a much larger overall exhibition.
“I’m working towards quite a large veterans exhibit in sight,” she said. “It’s little pieces like this built up together into a much larger exhibit in the future.
One of the centre pieces of the exhibit is an installation called “Petals of Memory” which is a cascading netting of handmade poppies.
The installation was spearheaded by volunteer Marjorie Stintzi who was assisted by many other volunteers.
“Marjorie Stintzi is our go-to volunteer, she has been knocking it out of the park,” Richard said.
“Marjorie had this vision for at least a year and a half and it has been about a year and half of preparing and sewing and stitching and gluing, it’s quite a few poppies, I think we’re well over 1,200 now.”
Among those involved with the project include Cindy Godin Hamilton, Cindy Judson, Lori Cress, Linda Wilson, Theresa Godin McDowell, Rainy River Seniors Group, Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Staff, St. Mary School Grades seven and eight classes and students from Our Lady of the Way School in Stratton, among many others.
Richard says as an Indigenous-focused institution, Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung feels it’s important to tell these stories.
“I think it’s important that while we talk about veterans in the larger scope of everything, it’s also super important to acknowledge the Indigenous veterans’ point of view,” she said.
“Especially coming from an Indigenous-focused museum. People don’t know that Indigenous veterans didn’t get the benefits of going to the Legion, or the land they were promised or the other benefits for quite a long time, and people are continuously surprised by that because it doesn’t make sense, right? So I think it’s super important to talk about these things and it’s important to also acknowledge how Indigenous people, while they were serving, still made sure that they were connected to their culture and traditions. We’re going to be talking about that in the exhibit, about how certain veterans kept their braids and how certain veterans performed different ceremonial practices before going into a battle, such as smudging or doing offerings.”
Richard’s predecessors had begun piecing together an exhibit about veterans.
“When I arrived here about three and half years ago or so, there was quite a bit already prepared for a veterans exhibit and so it was absolutely was kind of influenced off of that. Last year’s was a lot more specific about certain people from Manitou and their experiences,” she said.
“We’re also in partnership with quite a few other museums right now, we’re working on an indigenous veterans traveling exhibit.”
Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung has partnered with the Dryden Museum, The Muse in Kenora and the Thunder Bay Museum as well, in an effort to create an exhibit that will hopefully travel throughout Treaty #3 territory in the future, in addition to the permanent one at the centre.
“To Serve and Protect: Indigenous Voices of Valour” will open on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, at 1 p.m. with a ceremonial drum opening at the Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical Centre in Stratton. The exhibit will be up until Nov. 30.
