At first glance, with a name like Walpole Island Heritage Centre, you may think that it is a museum.
While The Heritage Centre does hold many archaeological artifacts donated from the community, they do a lot more than simply catalogue the past, they spend a lot of their time focused on the future.
Last year marked the 25th anniversary of the Heritage Centre, and they’ve already got big plans for their 26th year.
One of the major projects has been a partnership with The Rt. Hon. Herb Gray Parkway in the Essex region.
The Heritage Centre has assisted with the archaeological surveying for the parkway, and has produced a shrine along one of the trails.
The shrine was designed by Walpole Island resident Teresa Altiman, and will be featured prominently once the parkway is completed.
The major $1.4 billion highway infrastructure project is expected to be completed this summer.
“At the Heritage Centre we do a lot of different things,” said Jared Macbeth, the project review coordinator.
Currently, Macbeth is working on a 15-year court case regarding treaties dating back from the late 1700’s and early 1800’s for unceded land, which is any land that was not included in any treaties signed by the British crown during initial settlement in Canada.
Macbeth said The Indian Act prevented aboriginals from hiring land claim lawyers until 1951.
“Traditional territory is our house. You can’t come into our house without permission,” added Dean Jacobs, former Chief of Walpole Island.
A similar case was resolved in June of 2014 in British Columbia, where aboriginals were granted their land claims by the Supreme Court Of Canada.
This is just a small sample of some of the many things the Walpole Island Heritage Centre is currently involved with as they are constantly working on archaeological, and environmental studies.
People can give The Heritage Centre a call at 519-627-1475 or reach them by e-mail at heritage@web.net, or visit the Walpole Island website here for more information.
– Story by Andrew Roebuck
