Poundmaker Historical Center - Cut Knife

경치 좋고 날씨도 좋은데 바람이 만만찮다. 따뜻한 옷이 필요하고 문은 잠겨 있어서 내부 구경은 못함.

It was s beautiful experience

Last week, we took a family trip to Edmonton and Banff heading northwest from our home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. As we mapped out our route I noticed that we were going to be driving past the Poundmaker Reserve. I searched and searched for a museum or something to visit and we found several websites and news articles talking about a historical center, but no address was given. One site did however give the name of the curator, Floyd Favel, and his cell phone number. So last Tuesday, once our car was north of Saskatoon, we called that number to see what would happen. Floyd picked up and gave us detailed directions about how to get to the Poundmaker Historical Center. It was further than we had expected and we weren't able to get there until after closing time (5pm) but he said he had some work to do there anyway and would be happy to keep it open for us. When we arrived, we were the only visitors and Floyd personally walked us through all the exhibits. He's a direct descendant of Chief Poundmaker, a writer, and a university professor in Montreal. He grew up on the reserve and has visited the Cree and other tribes on many other reservations collecting oral history from the elders before they pass away. He is a mountain of information and had stories for us for hours. The site itself is on the top of a hill with a wonderful view, has Poundmaker's grave and the site of a battle between the Cree and the Canadians. Floyd will bring that battle to life for you and you'll feel each cannonball and casualty. They also perform sun dances on the grounds. We learned about the nature of the Cree's native religious beliefs, the complicated history between the native religion and Catholicism, the tribe's heroes who fought in World Wars 1 and 2 and the celebrities who went off to Hollywood or fought for certain Indian causes in the 20th century. The center itself is small with only about 2 and a half rooms of exhibits, but we spent over 2 hours there with Floyd and his knowledge. And then as we were about to leave he signed and gave me a book that featured some of his writing, an anthology in English of Saskatchewan Indigenous voices from the 1700s to present. His wise and generous spirit is unmatched. Seek out this treasure if you're in the area!

Amazing Rich Culture & Traditions w/The Land sharing the Story of Chief Poundmaker's Peoples' Struggle to Live.. then of a Family's/Tribe's survival to the Present..& being able to share their History with Passionate Oral Interpretations!