The City of Prince Albert has announced the installation of interpretive signs and a land acknowledgement in Little Red River Park near the ski and walking trails east of the Cosmo Lodge and Knotty Pine Restaurant.
Prince Albert Arts & Culture Coordinator Judy MacLeod Campbell, said the goal is to highlight the history of the Ancient Dakota Village in the area now known as Little Red River Park.
“Little Red River Park has received many improvements over the last few years,” MacLeod Campbell said. “It is an amazing place to enjoy nature, be active, and appreciate the outdoors and this important land, an ancient Dakota Village. Sharing the history of this incredible park and all it offers is important to the city.”
The Wahpetonwan Dakota Nation were the first people to settle in the Little Red River Park. Campbell said the City wants to promote Indigenous history, and these educational signs are a small step in that direction.
“We’ve always had a lot of visitors up at Little Red, … so my hope is that people will stop and read them, and get some of that history of the first peoples who were in our area, and particularly in Little Red,” MacLeod Campbell said. “It’s an opportunity for them to just take a few moments and look at the interpretive panels … and get that bit of history. I think the more we learn about our past, the more we appreciate our past.”
The City of Prince Albert thanked elder Leo Omani and the Wahpeton Dakota Nation for working with the City of the project. MacLeod Campbell said working with Omani was a great experience.
““It was fantastic,” she said. “I’ve worked with a number of different knowledge keepers that originally started with the Historical Society. It’s been a real learning experience, and it’s a pleasure to be able to … look at that history and heritage and then be able to do things that can share it with the broader community.”
Campbell said the project is an extension of something similar the City did along the river bank a couple of years ago.
The City of Prince Albert has a master plan for Little Red River Park, which includes partnering with community groups like the Rotary Club and individuals like Malcolm Jenkins. MacLeod Campbell said the park is a great resource, and the City is always looking for ways to improve the visitor experience.
“It’s a beautiful, huge park that we’re so fortunate to have and within that plan are ways to have more opportunities, more access, and more use of that beautiful resource,” she said.
