New exhibits and new ideas promise even repeat visitors will want to tour the Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung (“Place of the Long Rapids”) Historical Centre next week.
Some of the exhibits are still under construction, but site manager Sam Bombay said they’ll be ready for visitors starting next Tuesday (April 2).
May 1 will be the first day for full service, depending on the weather, Bombay added.
New murals bring life to the walls, and Bombay said they’re even looking at installing audio to exhibits that is motion sensitive. A stuffed eagle also will be donated. Until then, the nest sits empty.
The visitors’ centre has an interpretive gallery, a gift shop, and a restaurant.
The gallery allows visitors to learn the story of the Ojibway from the history of their creation, the introduction of the Rainy River First Nation, and the archaeological significance of the Rainy River corridor.
While the centre will open for the season this coming Tuesday, it will be closed Mondays and Tuesdays for the rest of April. On May 1, it will open seven days a week.
Sunday buffets will begin May 5.
Tours to the mounds will begin in April, depending on weather and road conditions.
“We’ll be introducing boat tours this year,” Bombay said, though adding the dock needs to be repaired after ice damage this winter. “And the building is smoke-free again this year.”
The centre also will be selling photos of guests if they’d like a personalized memento of their trip, reservations will be accepted for groups, and signs will be upgraded.
Located south of Highway 11 west of Barwick, Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung is the site of the largest burial mound complex in North America. Some of them are more than 40 feet high.
It was one of the most significant centres of early settlement in Canada and was declared a national historical site in 1970.
