The Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre comes alive in June

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On June 21, the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre plans to open its doors to the public. The St. Eugene Mission Heritage Restoration Society chose June 21 because it's Aboriginal Solidarity Day in Canada, a fitting occasion, the society thought, for this new centre's launch.

The St. Eugene Mission opens this summer not as a residential school, as it was at the beginning of its history, but as a major destination resort. Resort amenities include an 18-hole golf course, pro-shop, aquatic centre, casino, arts and crafts cooperative, and the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre and tipi village, all operated by the St. Eugene Mission Heritage Restoration Society.

The Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre will be interpreting Ktunaxa and Kinbasket (Shuswap) culture and history for the public. The facility housing the interpretive centre consists of 1,350 square feet of prime space within the St. Eugene Mission. It is built to the stringent standards of museum conservation and security. While its collections are somewhat limited to archaeology and private family collections, their vision is much larger.

In 1984, the late Mary Paul, a Ktunaxa Elder had said, "Since it was within that building that the culture of the Kootenay Indian was taken away, that it should be within that building that it is returned."

The St. Eugene Mission Heritage Restoration Society intends to run a healing initiative through the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre where Ktunaxa and Kinbasket traditional cultural knowledge will be regained through the study of ethnographic objects, photographs, and historic records.

Fundraising for the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre is currently in full swing. The space allocated for the interpretive centre only includes basic wall installations. Additional funding is required to make the space an appropriate museum-like facility.

The Ktunaxa tipi village will open in 2003, with tipis available for rent and the revenue from this operation will support the interpretive centre. Various interpretive and public programs will be scheduled at the village, including meat drying, pit-cooking, traditional fishing techniques, tipi raising, singing, dancing and storytelling. There may be a component involving canoe journeys down the St. Mary River as part of an eco-museum concept; however, more details need to be worked out.

The site of the tipi village is located adjacent to the St. Eugene Mission at the mouth of Joseph Creek where it runs into the St. Mary River. It is the most important fish spawning grounds on the St. Mary River system.

The Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre will work closely with the Elders of the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket peoples. Presently, an interpretive guide can be hired for local historic tours. It is hoped that the interpretive centre will in the future hire local interpretive guides on a full-time basis for the tipi village. Volunteers from within the community are encouraged. A small volunteer committee meets regularly to provide guidance and advice to the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre.

The St. Eugene Mission Resort Project is owned by the five bands of the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Tribal Council. Delta Hotels has entered into a management agreement with the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Tribal Council to manage a 125-room hotel and 7,007 yard Les Furber-designed championship golf course at the St. Eugene Mission. The golf course opened in 2000 and has been rated as the third best new golf course in Canada.

Lake City Casinos of Kelowna will manage the Casino of the Rockies on behalf of the B.C. Lottery Corporation. The destination casino, with 30 gaming tables and 300 slot machines, will contribute one-sixth of its net income to the host local government, the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Tribal Council Society, and up to one-sixth to the tribal council as the developers. The provincial government will receive two-thirds of the net revenue.

Casino revenues entitled to the Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Tribal Council will be used to pay down debt and it may be a number f years before funds are available for other uses.

For more information about the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre, visit www.ktunaxa.org.