Reconciliation with Indigenous Communities
Reconciliation with Indigenous communities would be advanced through the park’s proximity to neighbourhoods with significant Indigenous populations, by supporting the mandates and activities of nearby Indigenous organizations, by preserving places and features of historical significance to First Nations and Métis peoples, and by including Indigenous partners in the park’s ownership and long-term management. 18,000 Indigenous people (or 20% of Winnipeg’s Indigenous population) would live within a ten-minute walk of the park. More than twenty Indigenous organizations would also be located within walking distance of the park, thus supporting their land-based education and recreational programming.
Land-Based Education and Recreation
The national urban park will increase the institutional capacity of existing Indigenous organizations conducting land-based education and wilderness skills development. New water access and facilities within the proposed park would also help extend recreational programming within the city proper and in closer proximity to urban youth.
Heritage Preservation
The mouth of the Seine River was a well-established fishing location prior to colonial settlement. The Seine River corridor served as hunting and foraging grounds to support Indigenous encampments along the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. Here, the French-speaking and Métis fur traders began the transition from voyageur and nomadic lifestyle to permanent agricultural settlement. The area’s first homestead, owned by Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and Marie-Anne Gaboury, is believed to be the birthplace of Métis leader and Manitoba founder Louis Riel.
Land Stewardship
The park's ceremonial and gathering places could be modelled on the stands of large cottonwood trees that were historically cultivated by Indigenous people to provide favourable conditions for seasonal encampments in the area. Such “forest groves”, as they were later called, would have punctuated the riverbanks, and are a tangible manifestation of historical Indigenous landscape stewardship.