Chimczuk museum offers free admission to celebrate National Aboriginal Day
'Education and awareness is a key role in reconciliation'
To celebrate National Aboriginal Day the Chimczuk Museum is offering free admission and a guided tour of one of their Indigenous exhibits.
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Along with their permanent gallery, Original Peoples Culture & Legacy, the museum has a new exhibit called Métis Footprints. This exhibit, put together by the Windsor-Essex Métis Council, is temporary and will be available for the public to see until the end of the year.
The exhibit features flags, clothing, furs and a special section honouring local Métis veterans including Wilfred Rochon and Ralph Earl Scofield, a flight gunner during the Second World War who died in 2012.
Melissa Phillips, the museum's collections assistant, will be leading the guided tour at 2 p.m. and holds this day close to her heart. She is Haudenosaunee from the Oneida Nations of the Thames, Turtle Clan, and strives in her role to help people learn about her own culture.
"I'm interested in history and interested in my Indigenous history, I just want to help educated people," said Phillips.
She hopes free admission and events for children like an Indigenous-themed scavenger hunt, will bring more people to the museum to learn about Indigenous culture and practices.
"It's not just educating non-Indigenous, it's also about educating our Indigenous youth as well," said Phillips. "Education and awareness is a key roll in reconciliation."