As part of National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations, the City of Regina Archives unveiled its 150 stories timeline project.
It’s an oral history collection of memories and experiences, which reflects the history of Regina.
Dana Turgon, the historical information and preservation supervisor, says the archives wanted to take a different approach on this project, asking the Indigenous community to participate, with them telling the stories.
“We kind of came up with the concept because in Indigenous culture oral tradition is how stories were traditionally passed on. We wanted to keep that spirit alive and kind of capture that,” Turgon said.
Turgon says the project was challenging to start, on the heels of Canada 150 celebrations, and whether this anniversary should be commemorated. She says gathering stories at first was slow, but picked up momentum when trust was established.
As for the collection of stories themselves, Turgon says some are inspiring while others are traumatic.
“Some are just great uplifting stories, wonderful antidotes about family. But there’s also some very hard material on there also. Stories about residential schools, the experience of intergenerational trauma, stories about Colten Boushie and missing and murdered Indigenous women,” Turgon explained.
“We end by — we asked folks what the hope was for the next 150 years? Some of those stories are just so wonderful. People are hoping there’s an end to racism and that people are living together and working in harmony. There’s so much there.”
The exhibit can be heard online.
(PHOTO: Regina. Photo courtesy of Tourism Saskatchewan.)