Fort William Historical Park, Thunder Bay, ON. July,

While in Thunder Bay, we visited the Fort William Historical Park. Check out the Google Story of our visit. This is a reconstruction of the large fur trading post, in operation in the early 19th century. The park is staffed in summer by students acting in various roles -- they are not supposed to be out of character. A bit touristy, but once you got into a serious discussion, quite insightful. To be a clerk (accountant) was to be largely at the top of a very structured society.

The main fur trading post had been south, at Grand Portage. But after the Treaty of Paris, that ended the War of Independence, Grand Portage was in US territory. As a result, tariffs were imposed, so the North West Company had to move the post into Canadian territory -- hence bringing it back to Thunder Bay.

Thunder Bay art gallery, July

When in Thunder Bay, we were fortunate enough to hear First Nations Vancouver artist Sonny Assu talk about his work at a retrospective. He does amazing work.  Check out sonnyassu.com.