One last portage is in store for the sculpture that has sat outside the Simcoe County Museum in Midhurst for six years.
Wiidookdaadiwin, the sculpture depicting an Indigenous guide and a European explorer, will be moved from its current location at the museum to the spot it was always intended to be, which is west of Barrie near Minesing.
Sue Bragg, treasurer for the Friends of Wiidookdaadiwin, told BarrieToday the sculpture has been at the museum since June 16, 2014.
“The original intention was always that it would rest on the site south of Minesing. It is the perfect lookout for the icon,” she said. “The site is an amazing restoration of a former landfill site from decades ago off George Johnston Road and owned by the County of Simcoe.”
The Rotary Club of Barrie donated $20,000 to the Friends of Wiidookdaadiwin to help facilitate the move, although no date has been set.
Wiidookdaadiwin means "working together and helping one another” in the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibway) language. The name was bestowed by elders of the Chippewa Tri-Council.
Renowned Canadian sculptor Marlene Hilton Moore created the sculpture.
The Friends of Wiidookdaadiwin group has also developed partnerships between the County of Simcoe, the Chippewa Tri-Council, the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority, and Springwater Township, among others.
The site where the sculpture will sit will incorporate a viewing deck, gathering spaces, interpretive signs, Indigenous plantings, and education on their traditional medicinal uses, as well as lighting, security and a parking lot.
For more information on the project, head to the website here.
