Niagara Parks Honours National Indigenous History Month
- “Beyond the Mist” Lecture on Niagara’s Indigenous History
- New Indigenous Peoples of Niagara guided tour offering
- Sonic Tour experience and Indigenous Plant Exhibit at the Niagara Glen
- Featured painting by Indigenous artist and Onondaga faithkeeper Oren Lyons at Journey Behind the Falls
- Explore the Niagara to discover more Indigenous history and culture
Niagara Falls, ON – Niagara Parks will be recognizing National Indigenous History Month with a number of special events, curated programming and activations throughout the month of June to celebrate the history, resilience and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada.
“Beyond the Mist”: Niagara’s Indigenous History
On Thursday, June 8 at 7 p.m., in partnership with Niagara Parks, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Museum will host “Beyond the Mist,” a panel discussion to provide a deep and unparalleled exploration of Niagara’s unique Indigenous history. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit niagaraparks.com/beyondthemist.
New Indigenous Peoples of Niagara Guided Tour at Niagara Parks
Niagara Parks is proud to announce a new tour offering for groups, corporate outings and students, offered through Niagara Parks’ sales team, entitled Indigenous Peoples of Niagara. Developed by Niagara Parks’ Heritage and Legacy Team, guests will have the opportunity to visit Niagara Parks sites and learn about Indigenous culture and how members of the Indigenous community have played significant and pivotal roles in Canada’s story, in both a historical and modern context.
An Indigenous Journey of the Niagara Glen
Explore Deeper Connections to Nature with New Sonic Tour
In the coming months, Niagara Parks will be offering a new sonic tour experience at the Niagara Glen, curated by Indigenous community member Michele-Elise Burnett and supported by the Niagara Parks Foundation. Burnett is a Metis citizen of Ontario with Algonquin roots and member of the Bear Clan.
The sonic tour is a self-guided hiking audio tour that will be an Indigenous journey of the Niagara Glen, aiming to bring the minds of guests together and immerse themselves in Indigenous teachings focused on cultivating a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the Niagara Glen.
Indigenous Gardens Exhibit
June will bring the launch of a newly planted Indigenous Gardens Exhibit Project at the Niagara Glen. Through the Niagara Parks Foundation, this living exhibit at the Niagara Glen will educate guests about Indigenous relationships with other beings and feature culturally significant plant species, along with interpretive boards explaining the significance of each plant type.
Maid of the Mist and the Thunder Beings
As part of the renovations to create an all-new visitor queuing area at Niagara Parks’ flagship Journey Behind the Falls attraction, a centrepiece of the new exhibits will be a stunning reproduction of an oil on canvas painting by Indigenous artist Oren Lyons (Joagquicho), Maid of the Mist and the Thunder Beings. The full exhibit space will be unveiled later this month, which includes content on the geological formation of the Falls, Indigenous history and connections, as well as the origins of tourism.
Oren Lyons (Joagquisho) is an Indigenous icon who serves as a “faithkeeper” of the Onondaga Nation and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. He is widely recognized as an orator of Haudenosaunee history, culture, and philosophy, as an artist of distinction, an environmentalist, and international Indigenous human rights leader. In this painting, he portrays the Seneca story of the Maid of the Mist and the Thunder Beings, as told by Seneca Chief Corbett Sundown.
Explore the Niagara
Discover even more of Niagara’s rich heritage and legacy of Indigenous life, culture and community all along the 56-kilometre Niagara River corridor. From Fort Erie to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Explore the Niagara is a collaborative initiative between Niagara Parks, the Town of Fort Erie, the City of Niagara Falls, the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and Parks Canada, to share the stories and experiences that set this region apart, spanning themes of Indigenous connections, nation building, Black history, nature and outdoor living.
Video and photo assets can be found here.
About Niagara Parks
Since its establishment in 1885, Niagara Parks has remained a self-financed agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, entrusted to preserve and protect the land surrounding Niagara Falls and the Niagara River. Today, Niagara Parks boasts gardens, a horticulture school, recreation, golf courses, restaurants, heritage and historic sites, gift shops and, of course, Niagara Falls. In short, natural landscapes, history, family fun, hiking, culinary delights, attractions and adventure.
For more information, please visit niagaraparks.com or contact:
Katy Wassenaar, Manager, Public Affairs
kwassenaar@niagaraparks.com
(905) 356-2241 ext. 2224
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