Things to Do: Metepenagiag Heritage Park

As indicated in previous posts, there are three First Nations reservations located in the Miramichi area: Esgenoôpetitj (Burnt Church), Natoaganeg (Eel Ground) and Metepenagiag (Red Bank). Each has their own history and Metepenagiag has brought their history to life at the Metepenagiag Heritage Park.

Sign from parking lot.

Trail up to the building.

Information sign in front of building.

Metepenagiag Heritage Park.

Inside the building, visitors walk through the history of the First Nations in the Metepenagiag and Oxbox area.

Inside the museum.

Entrance to the walk through history.

Visitors will find a number of panels like this, depicting history, survival tactics, and a number of other things.

Along side the panels, there are also showcases with various items that were used in the beginning of cultivating the land.

Hunting tools.

A sling to carry babies.

The Ancient Oxbow fishing encampment.

There is also an area that shows what each season held in store for the First Nations people.

Display of what each season was like.

In the Spring, the men would start fishing and the woman would gather birch bark to make and repair canoes, wigwams and storage containers. In the Summer, the men fished and the woman gather fruits and vegetables, as well as spices and herbs for medicines. The summer was when marriages, initiation rights, burials and other gatherings took place.

In the Autumn, the men hunted and the woman collected nuts and grains. They worked to gather food for their winter supply and also moved to their winter home from the Oxbox site. In the Winter, woman made clothing and men repaired and made sleds and toboggans and utensils. The winter was also a time of storytelling around the fire. 

In addition to the walk through history along the panels, there is also a theatre where visitors can watch a short film on fishing sturgeon in the river. They will learn of the story of fishing a sturgeon that was a long as the canoe the fisherman were in.

Going outside, visitors can go to the lookout point and look down the river to where the Oxbox site used to be.

The river.

The lookout to the Oxbox site.

Outside, there is also an area set up with a couple of wigwams, that will soon be available to rent for an evening. There is also a fire pit area where visitors can watch bread being made in the sand.

Wigwams.

Fire pit.

The Metepenagiag Heritage Park is definitely a place that tourists should go to when visiting the area. It's also a great place for people to go to learn about the First Nations people in the area and learn about the culture within Miramichi and the surrounding area. To learn more about the heritage park, check out their website at www.metpark.ca!

**With information from the information panels in the heritage park.**