MOSQUITO GRIZZLY BEAR'S HEAD LEAN MAN FIRST NATION - It's an exciting time for Mosquito Grizzly Bear's Head Lean Man (MGBHLM) as the First Nation is getting closer to the opening of its new Interpretive Centre on its land at The Ridge, located south of Battleford.
Chief Tanya Aguilar-Antiman recently received the keys to the new building.
Sept. 30 is planned for the grand opening date.
"I definitely am really proud of all the people that contributed to that facility, right from the beginning of the idea, right to the individuals that pushed for it and developed it on paper, and then communicated with government," Aguilar-Antiman said. "It's a huge undertaking. I'm really proud how everybody came together. It was a total of 29 project meetings to make that building become a building, right from day one of the project management, and setting up and going back and forth."
The two-story building is 15,000 square foot in size.
The full value of the project is over $6 million, with the provincial and federal governments contributing $5.8 million through a grant and the Nation putting in close to $950,000.
"It's a beautiful building," Aguilar-Antiman said. "We got a sneak peek yesterday [July 31]. The furniture will be arriving at the end of August or early September."
The interpretive centre will feature the art of Henry Beaudry.
The full name of the facility is still being determined.
"We as a leadership want to identify his Indian name, like in the Cree language and Nakoda language," Aguilar-Antiman said. "That's what we're working on right now. It's part of our language retention, and an opportunity to really promote the history and share that language with the rest of the country."
A great part of the centre will be focused on the Nakoda history.
"It's going to be promoting the Nakoda history of the Battlefords and how the Nakoda people and the three bands — Mosquito, Grizzly Bear's Head, and Lean Man — were part of all the history that we have in the Battlefords," Aguilar-Antiman said. "Right from the railway, right from the last hangings that took place in the Battlefords, and the Industrial School, there's a whole range of history that we want to share... I think it's really important to share that history when we talk reconciliation."
