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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
A Fort Simpson society may soon be expanding its purpose and scope.

Todd Sasaki with Tait Communications and Consulting Inc., front, facilitates a strategic planning session for the Heritage Centre Society in Fort Simpson on Feb. 23. Participants include, from front left, Brian Jaffray, Freda Blyth, Jerry Antoine, Barb Tsetso, Julia Tsetso, Martina Norwegian, the society's president, and Renalyn Pascua-Matte. - photo courtesy of Shyanne Smith

The Heritage Centre Society held two community workshops on Feb. 21 and 22 in the village. The purpose of the workshops was to gather together people who are interested in the culture and heritage of the area and determine what the needs of the region are, said Shyanne Smith, the society's program co-ordinator.

The Heritage Centre Society was created out of the Fort Simpson Historical Society to manage the restoration of the former Roman Catholic rectory in 2008. Realistically, that project will take a long time to complete so the Heritage Centre Society wanted to examine what other projects or activities the public thinks they can or should do, Smith said.

The response from the 25 participants over the two days was that the society should establish a greater presence in the community and could play a role in developing and co-ordinating heritage projects in the Deh Cho, she said.

Strategic planning session

The way in which that could be done was examined during a strategic planning session on Feb. 23 that seven community members, in addition to the three board members, attended. The participants looked at strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for the society and emerged with a mission statement and a set of four primary goals.

It was notable that everyone seemed to be on the same wavelength, said Smith.

"It was really great to see it come together so easily," she said.

The mission statement says the society exists to "encourage and engage the people of the Deh Cho region to preserve and protect our culture, history and traditions and to create awareness and pride."

The goals included developing places and opportunities for the preservation and presentation of heritage in the region, enhancing a sense of pride and promoting community development by bringing people together to honour the heritage and establishing broad-based community support for heritage initiatives.

Members of the society are still working on how this will happen.

The Heritage Centre Society may revert back into the Fort Simpson Historical Society and that organization may be given a new name.

To date, the Historical Society has focused primarily on preserving historical buildings, but it will likely expand its mandate to co-ordinate a variety of projects related to history and culture, Smith said.

The society will be dedicated to different periods of history, not just post-European history.

Smith said it was also encouraging that all seven community members who attended the strategic planning session said they were interested in staying involved in the society.

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