Re: Liberals? and Conservatives?

bob wrote:
Hi everyone
        If you want to read an interesting website try Kristi's.
Bye
Bob
http://hjemkomst-center.com/
 


Hey, Bob, thanks for the free publicity! Our website is just constructed and needs a lot of help--we should have had you create it. The best part, IMO, is the section on details on construction of the replica we have of the hand-carved Norwegian stavkirke. We also have the Hjemkomst itself, a full-sized (mast is 81 feet high) replica of a Viking ship that was built locally and sailed through the great Lakes and across the big blue ocean to Norway and back. The crew consisted of Americans and Norwegians, and they used no technical equipment (although they did have radio contact in case there was a big problem along the way, and they did video the whole adventure). In addition to the Chamber of Commerce, the local Senior Center, a restaurant and gift shop, we also have the County Historical Archives (which are big and have a full-time Ph.D. historian and professional archivist), the Red River Valley Heritage Society offices, and several large exhibit galleries. At present we are working on a $2.5 million project on the history of the Red River Valley--it will take two years to complete and is "my baby", so to speak. In one of our large exhibit halls (for the exhibit I am working on), we are having a to-scale map of the Red River and all its tributaries--from its source to Hudson's Bay--carved into a raised floor. Very cool! The Red River served as the Hudson's Bay conduit for the fur trade--it flows north from Lake Traverse in SD to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba--from the 1700s until about 1900. I am a slavicist by trade but frequently take on museum work since retiring from teaching--this job is really fun and I am learning alot, especially about the tribal peoples of the Valley. I have become fascinated with the Metis traders and their culture, which continues to exist. They re-enact battles and have canoe rendezvous along the river (some of you may know of, e.g., the Festival du Voyageurs). The Metis Federation of Manitoba has a great website too--very informative. I am attaching one of my pamphlets on the history of the folksong "Red River Valley" which the Metis claim for their own.

Sorry, I got a little excited here . . .  Anyway, the museum is big and growing, and I hope someday to convince the Parks and Recreation people in the City of Moorhead to let me hostafy the grounds!

As ever, Kris

--
Kristi A. Groberg, Ph.D.
Research Director, Curator
Red River Valley History Exhibit
Heritage Hjemkomst Interpretive Center
202 First Avenue North
Moorhead, MN 56561-0157
office phone: 218-299-5511 x229
home phone: 701-293-9040
cell phone: 701-361-2773
[k*@fargocity.com]
 
 

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