The Friends of Upper Fort Garry unveiled the first portion of a new provincial park on Saturday. The group held a ceremony at the site of the old Upper Fort Garry on Assiniboine Avenue Saturday morning.
The multi-million dollar Upper Fort Garry Heritage Park and Interpretive Centre commemorates the birthplace of the Province of Manitoba. Louis Riel’s Métis rebels seized the fort in 1869 during the first Red River Rebellion and formed his provisional government, eventually leading to Manitoba’s entry into Confederation.
Fundraising for the project started in 2007, and construction began 2010.
The park drew controversy recently when members of Manitoba’s Scottish community complained it didn’t include the contributions Scots made to the fort’s early history. Hudson’s Bay Company employees, most of whom were Scottish, first established the fort in the early 1800s.
"They do tend to focus on the Métis story and they do tend to, what I would say, either minimize or marginalize the role of Scots and other people in the Red River settlement," said John Perrin, Manitoba Scottish Heritage Council.
Friends of Upper Fort Garry chairperson Jerry Gray says everybody, including the Scottish, will have their voices heard.
"It's not going to happen tomorrow or the day after, but this is an ongoing project and we're going to include everybody as time goes on," he said.
Gray says the theme of the fort is "many voices" and that the park will eventually boast an online app to share stories of all cultures, including Scottish.
"What people have to understand that this park is an interpretive park it's not going to have statues, signs, symbols whatever. It's a venue for people to interpret their own interpretations of history."
- With a report by Josh Crabb
