The Innisfail and District Historical Society held its annual general meeting on Tuesday, March 22 and board members spoke about a number of new additions that will be coming to the village this year.
Visitors returning to the Innisfail Historical Village this season may notice a slight change in the skyline come opening day after the addition of a teepee to the museum.
Historical society board member Carolyn Mick said that she has wanted to see a teepee come to the village for a number of years to act as an education tool for children about the native history of this area.
“We have been able to set some money aside for it and I hope it will be set up for the opening day this season,” said Mick.
The teepee will be built by members of the Bowden Institution who have already built a teepee that stands in the yard at the institution.
Members of the historical society and the institution are still in preliminary talks about getting the teepee made, but Mick said that she would be meeting with staff at the institution later on this week to discuss arrangements for the project.
Although this area was originally more Blackfoot than Cree, Mick said the teepee would be a slightly more Cree design because that is what they make at the institution.
Whether or not it will be painted is still undecided as the specific designs painted on traditional teepees are owned by the different aboriginal families, so the village would have to get the rights to paint the teepee with a historic design said Mick.
Another addition to the historical village this year will be the items from the Dr. George/Kemp House that is currently up for sale.
Over 150 items will be relocated from the Dr. George/Kemp House to the historical village over the next few months said Clayton Ross, the president of the historical society.
The large collection of items will take time to move to the village so the display will most likely not be set up until the summer, but Dean Jorden, the historical village curator, has already done some of the preliminary work to get them organized before they are moved out of the house.
“We are happy to (move them), that is our mandate, to preserve history; it is very exciting,” said Ross.
The village does not currently have enough room to display all of the items but will be setting up a small display they will rotate items through for this year, said Ross.
A large pole shed will be build at the village this year for storage of a number of the large items at the village such as machines and vehicles that are located on the site.
Many of the regular programs will be continuing at the village this year, such as Pioneer Wednesdays, Friday teas, and the Canada Day celebrations.
The grand opening weekend of the village will be the last weekend in May and the annual pancake breakfast and car show will be the 28th.
"We have been able to set some money aside for it and I hope it will be set up for the opening day this season."
Carloyn Mick
