Lang Pioneer Village Museum
media@langpioneervillage.ca
Lang, ON- Lang Pioneer Village Museum was featured in Michelle St. John’s documentary “Colonization Road” which aired on the CBC on Wednesday, January 26th. The Museum, in partnership with Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations, has long believed that a narrative, which profiles the impact of settlement and colonization on the First Nations, is an important story to be told. An understanding of the history of First Nations prior to colonialism and an appreciation for the culture, language and traditions of First Nations will help us move towards reconciliation. The Museum and its First Nation partners have been working together to change that perspective since 2007.
“In an effort to move away from a colonial/settler-only viewpoint to one that includes the history of the First Nations people that were living in
Nogojiwanong prior to the arrival of settlers, our communities have come together to create awareness and foster cultural integrity with the development of the Aabnaabin Camp at Lang Pioneer Village Museum,” says Museum Manager Joe Corrigan.
The Museum’s mission is to preserve, promote and authentically recreate the history of Peterborough County. A strategy in the Museum’s 2009 Master Plan outlined the development of a First Nations presence at the Village on an ongoing basis to highlight the Michi Saagiig experience which removed them from their traditional lands onto reserves due to European settlement and to contrast the two cultures’ perspectives. This strategy lead to the evolution of the Aabnaabin Camp in 2014, the hiring of a seasonal First Nations interpreter beginning in 2016 and a continuous partnership between Curve Lake and Hiawatha First Nations and Lang Pioneer Village Museum. The Aabnaabin Camp strives to create a space where the history of the Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg can be told by local First Nations from their perspective, and to provide local First Nations with an opportunity to share their culture and traditions with the visiting public in a living-history format.
Commencing in 2017, the Museum will be premiering an eight-minute video, created by Peterborough’s Impact Communications, to profile the contrast between the experiences of the early European settlers to Peterborough County with that of the Michi Saagiig people living in the region in the 1820’s. The short film will orient visitors to this important history before they begin their living history experience at Lang Pioneer Village Museum. For more information on the Aabnaabin Camp and the Museum’s 50th season, please visit www.langpioneervillage.ca.
