Teepees, wigwams bring new life to Indigenous programming at Lower Fort Garry

History is being brought back to life at the Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site. 

Indigenous programming on the grounds, located about 30 kilometres north of Winnipeg, has been expanded, Parks Canada announced Thursday.

Two birch houses, or wigwams, and a new buffalo hide teepee, as well as modifications to an existing teepee on the grounds have been decorated to honour residential school survivors and those who were lost. 

Keeping history alive

Wigwam builder Chris Wabie, who resides in Treaty 1 but is originally from Timiskaming First Nation near the Quebec-Ontario border, says the historic structures are still used in some First Nations communities. 

"It's actually a good thing, because it shows the variety of the dwellings we lived in," he said. "There's so many dwellings that we did live in. [These are] very similar to all the various shapes, different kinds and concepts."

At Lower Fort Garry, the wigwams were constructed with traditional building materials, all sourced from Treaty 1 land. Birch bark, bulrushes and leather pieces have been used to create the symbolic structures. 

Wabie says the wigwam was traditionally used as a summer dwelling during work periods, with woven mats inside. The mats were often used for trading with settlers, according to oral histories passed down to him. 

"The mats were traded with a lot of the people because the leftover material from the people that weren't using it, they made mats for a lot of the settlers, then traded for necessities. It was a good trade, because we did speak with a lot of historians about the varieties of things … influenced by this little structure."

Wabie says the travelling houses should have been included at the historic site since its inception. He notes wigwams became a banned structure many years ago, but with new ones being built many people are now in awe of them. 

Relationships strengthened by new expansion

Parks Canada says the structures are of the utmost importance to First Nations and their connection to land and place, and also sharing their stories. 

"Using this space, gathering together, trading, living their lives on this area … we're able to expand on that story and share more of the history and culture of the people that were here," said Terrie Dionne, a superintendent for Parks Canada in Manitoba. 

Dionne says the expansion has been in the works since 2018. After the recent discoveries of unmarked graves at various residential schools across Canada, she says the group planning the efforts wanted to acknowledge the survivors and those who were lost. 

One of the new teepees will be adorned with painted orange hand prints, along with designs of either residential schools, or star blankets. Members of Sandy Bay First Nation, who helped build the structures, shared in the event on Thursday. Many elders, youth and park staff took part by putting their hand print on the buffalo hide. 

"This is an opportunity for us to learn … to build that relationship. It's one step toward reconciliation with our Treaty 1 communities," Dionne said. 

She hopes those who attend the historic site will gain a better understanding of what came before. 

"For the visitors coming here, this is a place where everyone lived, had different perspectives, and it's a part of what we are supposed to be doing here," she said.

Lower Fort Garry, which is operated by Parks Canada, is located in the RM of St. Andrews, about 30 minutes north of Winnipeg.

It was built as a trading post in 1830 by the Hudson's Bay Company and, in 1871, Treaty No. 1 was signed there by the federal government and seven chiefs of the Ojibway and Swampy Cree First Nations, creating the foundation of modern Manitoba.

The fort later became a penitentiary, a psychiatric hospital and then a country club. It was also the first training camp for the former North-West Mounted Police in 1873. 

Admission fees to the park can be found on the Lower Fort Garry website.