CBC News
March 31, 2017
After three years in the making, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa is preparing to open its new, permanent Canada Goose Arctic Gallery in June.
Part of the new gallery will include a space for rotating community exhibitions called Our Northern Voices.
The Kitikmeot Heritage Society, based in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, will be the first to open the space, with an exhibition called Inuinnauyugut: We are Inuinnait.
“It’s been really exciting,” said Brendan Grebel, a research associate with the Kitikmeot Heritage Society.
“What we’re doing for the exhibit is pairing historical artifacts that were sourced by the Canadian Arctic Expedition from the Copper Inuit 100 years ago — which was kind of the first significant contact this group had with the outside world, the Western world — and we’re pairing that with objects created in the community 100 years later.”
Grebel said the exhibit was created several years ago, on a smaller scale, in Cambridge Bay.
“It’s been real exciting for everyone to follow the process of it getting bigger, and being presented for an Ottawa audience.”
Grebel said several members of the society hope to travel south for the June opening.
“There’s a group of five elders who are so excited to come down to this and there’s some of the artists from the community. They’re all really excited about coming down and being able to explain to people what they’ve been doing,” he said.