| Kaposvar
Historic Site Museum
Homesteading Hungarian history
in the lower Qu'appelle Valley
has been preserved at the Kaposvar
Historic Site Museum, south
of Esterhazy on a scenic river
valley road. A stone church,
built in 1906, stands solidly
at the heart of the site, surrounded
by a rectory, grotto, log buildings
and one-room school.
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Hungarian Heritage
at Esterhazy
When Canada's first Hungarian immigrants
arrived in the valley north of the Qu'appelle
River, just west of the present-day border
between Saskatchewan and Manitoba, many
expected to find a ready-made agricultural
paradise. They had emigrated to western
Canada in 1885 on the strength of glowing
reports from Canadian Pacific Railway immigration
agent, Count Paul Oscar Esterhaus (of dubious
ancestry), who had neglected to tell his
pioneer recruits about forests to be cleared,
or cold prairie winters to be endured.
Despite years of hardship, and an early
existence in crude sod hut homes, Esterhazy's
Kaposvar colony eventually flourished. The
Hungarian settlers were among the first
to harvest wheat from the fertile prairie,
and the town of Esterhazy, named for their
illustrious immigration agent, was established
just north of their original settlement.
Esterhazy's first colonists laid the foundation
for the eventual arrival of 8,000 Hungarian
immigrants to the Canadian prairies, and
helped pave the way for Qu'appelle Valley
settlers of many other nationalities. In
the latter years of the 19th century, English
immigrants established the Sumner Parish
north of the town, and a large Swedish colony
was founded in New Stockholm to the west.
| First
Nations Gallery in Regina
With a life-size alabaster and
bronze sculpture of the "Trickster,"
a principal character in First
Nations creation stories, guarding
the entrance, 10,000 years of
history, art and culture of
Saskatchewan's aboriginal peoples
unfolds in the First Nations
Gallery of the Regina's Royal
Saskatchewan Museum.
The symbolic design of the
tipi, daily life in a bison-hunting
encampment, the importance of
family and sacred places, ceremonies
and rituals, the role of horses,
and the history of trade and
treaties are conveyed through
sculptures, murals and life-size
and miniature dioramas.
The First Nations Gallery was
designed and constructed by
representatives from all of
Saskatchewan's 5 First Nations
- Nakota (Assiniboine), Dakota/Lakota,
Cree, Saulteaux and Dene - and
was the first Canadian gallery
of its kind when it opened in
1993.
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Czechoslovakians settled to the southwest,
Germans to the northeast, and Welsh to the
northwest. A Scandinavian community was
established further west, and at a Jewish
settlement southeast near Wapella, Canada's
famous Bronfman family made their first
home in the west.
Today, the Potashville Multicultural Council,
based in Esterhazy, promotes the ethnic
flavour of the eastern Saskatchewan Qu'appelle
region.
Francophone Flavour in Lebret
Fiddling, jigging and reeling. Rue St. Joseph,
Rue Tache, Place L'Eglise - the avenues
and amusements of the village of Lebret,
on the north shore of Mission Lake in the
Qu'appelle Valley, reflect the area's francophone
heritage.
Winding up the hillside overlooking the
town are the 14 Stations of the Cross, leading
to the small Sacred Heart Shrine Chapel.
On the shore of the lake stands the Gothic-style
Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church, and
an adjacent 19th century rectory, all part
of the Lebret Roman Catholic Mission Site
heritage property.
Each summer, the Lebret Métis Farm
Cultural festival recalls the area's combined
French and aboriginal heritage, featuring,
bannock making, chuckwagon races and traditional
musical entertainment.
Treaty
Four Days in Fort Qu'appelle
Each September, jingle-dress dancers,
traditional drummers, and old-fashioned
fiddling bring music and motion
to the town of Fort Qu'appelle,
when the Treaty Four Days Powwow
celebrates the First Nations heritage
of the Qu'appelle Valley. Drawing
thousands of people, hundreds
of dancers and dozens of drum
groups to the week-long festival,
the crowd-pleasing powwow is organized
by the Touchwood File Hills Tribal
Council, Yorkton Tribal Council
and other First Nations organizations
in Saskatchewan.
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