Prince George, B.C.-  Tomorrow  is Aboriginal Day in Canada,  and it is being  marked  in a special  way  at Exploration Place in Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park.

The  museum  will officially open  a new  gallery  which tells the history of the  Lheildi T’enneh.   The entrance to the new gallery   ‘Hodul’eh-a’ which means  ‘a place of learning’,  will be through  a stylized pit house and the gallery will feature  a variety of images and artifacts including a  dug out canoe created last summer,  message trees,  as well as a  interpretation space  for  teaching and  sharing knowledge.

There have been previous ,  temporary exhibitions of  the Lheidli T’enneh  history at the museum, but this new gallery will be permanent.   It is the first  new permanent gallery for the museum since  Exploration Place expanded  16 years ago.

The space  for the gallery has been created through a  reorganization of the George Phillips Gallery and  using the space that  was formerly used for the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame.

The museum is the designated repository for the Lheidli T’enneh Nation says  museum CEO  Tracy Calogheros “We hold in safekeeping a continuously growing collection which ranges from lithics, (stone tools), some 9,000 years old, to baskets, beading and leatherwork. The gallery will allow us to share this history as well as provide a programming space for traditional teaching through the sharing and transfer of knowledge.”

Some of the exhibits,  particularly  the textiles,  are  fragile,  so the exhibits will change every few months to prevent  them from  being  damaged by exposure to light,   temperature and humidity. Custom display cases have been built to ensure  the  items are protected.

While the museum has many artifacts in storage,  it  hopes to expand the collection by reaching out to partner museums to  repatriate Lheidli T’enneh items that may  be held  in other collections.

To celebrate the  new gallery, admission will be free tomorrow  from  noon to 4 p.m.

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