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Local history museum receives provincial grant for Canada 150 exhibit

Prince George’s Exploration Place will be creating a new display depicting local First Nations, thanks to the BC Government and the BC Museums Association.

The funding of $75,000 will go towards the new exhibit, earmarked for Canada’s 150th Birthday celebrations and showcasing the cultural significance of the Lheidli T’enneh and the Dakelh group in Northern BC.

Curator Alyssa Tobin hopes this will reflect the local demographic both historically and contemporarily.

“It’s really important that our exhibit focuses more on First Nations Heritage in this area. Obviously, the Lheidli T’enneh has been here for a lot longer than 150 years, so we’re letting the public see this side of Prince George.”

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The gallery, known as K’et Hohudul’eh or “The Place of Learning,” will become permanent at Exploration Place once completed.

Despite originally applying for a grant of $100,000, Tobin is happy with the province’s consideration.

“There were mandates to provide historical and educational programming and exhibits that obviously meet the needs and desires of reaching the public. We’re definitely dedicated to undertaking projects that have historical significance to the region and this is definitely one that does.”

She adds the museum’s facility has limited space, so staff were forced to make room for the exhibit, set to be constructed like a traditional pit house.

“We recently took out the Sports Hall of Fame upstairs and we’ve reworked the George Phillips gallery. We just thought it was really important that we told this story, so we found a way to do that.”

The gallery is set to open on June 21st for National Aboriginal Day.

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