New Exhibit Opening at Huronia Museum

During the War of 1812 First Nations warriors served as strategic and vital allies of the British, providing some 10 000 men to the conflict. Effective as both defenders and combatants First Nations warriors earned a reputation as fierce combatants with their aggressive resistance to the encroachment upon their traditional lands.

Without their support certainly Ontario and most likely Quebec and all of then-British North America would not exist today.  First Nations played enormously important roles in gathering intelligence, harassing the enemy supply systems and fought at most battles throughout the war including the decisive battles of Queenston Heights, Beaver Dams, Stoney Creek, Cryslers Farm, Chateaugay and the retaking of Fort George.

We salute the courageous First Nations from our area who 200 years ago rose to the challenge to defend their homelands which some 50 years later would become Canada.  And we celebrate the 200 years of peaceful co-existence between our two neighbouring nations as we make our way forward into the 21st century.

In celebration of this enormous contribution, please join us Friday, June 22 from 7:00-8:30 PM when we open our newest exhibit Native Contributions to the War of 1812, which highlights those many important contributions made by First Nations Allies.

After the exhibit has been unveiled our curator will be on hand to answer questions and light refreshments will be served.  Admission is by donation only as well as a non-perishable food item.

Annual Heritage Dinner

About this year’s speaker 

Dr. Alan Taylor graduated from Colby College, in Waterville, Maine, in 1977 and earned his PhD from Brandeis University in 1986.  Dr. Taylor is currently a professor of American and Canadian history at the University of California, having taught previously at Boston University.

Dr. Taylor’s current research includes a borderlands history of Canada and the United States in the aftermath of the American Revolution.  His other books include The Divided Ground, Writing Early American History, American Colonies, and William Cooper’s Town, which won the Bancroft and Pulitzer prizes for American history.  He also serves as a contributing editor to The New Republic.

In his most recent book The Civil War of 1812 American Citizens, British Subjects, Irish Rebels and Indian Allies.  Dr. Taylor tells the riveting story of a war that redefined North America. During the early nineteenth century, Britons and Americans renewed their struggle over the legacy of the American Revolution. Soldiers, immigrants, settlers, and First Nations fought in a northern borderland to determine the fate of a continent. Would revolutionary republicanism sweep the British from Canada? Or would the British empire contain, divide, and ruin the shaky American republic?
Dr. Taylor will provide this year’s attendees at the annual Huronia Museum Heritage Dinner with a balanced perspective of the events and participants of this War  and how it shaped the identity of Canadians.

Tickets can be purchased at the Huronia Museum

549 Little Lake Park Road, Midland Ontario 705.526-2844