Spirit Lake Centre Welcomes Nova Scotia Exchange Students

La Ferme, Quebec: Sixty high school exchange students, thirty from Nova Scotia’s Kings County Academy, in Kentville and thirty from Rouyn Noranda’s La Source Secondary, accompanied by three teachers, visited Camp Spirit Lake Internment Interpretive Centre (CSLIIC) on February 21, 2013, Canada’s first internment interpretive centre. The Centre was opened in June 2010 and tells the story of Canada’s First National Internment Operations 1914-1920. Spirit Lake, Quebec internment site was Canada’s second largest of the twenty-four internment sites established from 1914-1920. At Spirit Lake alone, 1,200 persons were unjustly interned, mostly Ukrainians.

Upon arriving at the Spirit Lake Centre, the students were divided into two groups of thirty, each group taken separately on a guided tour of the museum’s display which includes archival photos, press articles of that period, artefacts discovered from archeological finds on the former internment site and other fascinating items related to the Spirit Lake internment story. While one group toured, the other student group was taken on a sleigh ride pulled by husky dogs to experience the outdoors and viewing the environment in which the internees once lived.

Chairperson of CSLIIC, James Slobodian, who helped coordinate this visit stated: “It was the first time these students learned about Spirit Lake and the internment story, and this was reflected by their many questions following the guided tour and discussion period. Among the student remarks were “Very interesting and educational, a historical site in memory of those who were sent here.” “It’s more fun to visit historical places in another language” and finally, Morgan Lutz stated: “This visit gives us a chance to discover other cultures and heritages.”

All students were later welcomed and treated to hot chocolate and snacks in the Centre’s hospitality quarters downstairs.

This very special Nova Scotia French-language student exchange was part of Nova Scotia’s government educational program; ensuring students learn more about Canada’s history and share with one another local and regional history. The thirty students arrived by chartered plane from Nova Scotia to visit many of the cultural-historic landmarks of the Abitibi-Temiscamingue region of Quebec, including Spirit Lake Centre. It was partnered by the Canadian Society of Educational Visits.

Spirit Lake is open to visitors all year round, and hosts many student and teacher visits during the fall and winter months. Since 2010, over six thousand visitors, of this number over 800 elementary and high school students, have visited the Centre, with each visitor signing a guest book as a record of who viewed the museum, providing from where they came and their comments.

As this exchange was part of a French immersion program, their teachers requested that everything be conduced in the French language, including the screening of all documentary films on this subject. Freedom Had a Price is still awaiting approval of a grant request made to the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund to make this documentary available to French-language speakers.

Mr. Slobodian was recently interviewed by CBC Radio Quebec City regarding the Spirit Lake Centre. The program was aired throughout the entire Province of Quebec. Copies of the internment documentary films Freedom Had A Price and Ukrainians in Quebec, which has a segment on Spirit Lake, were donated to the program for CBC callers to phone in, answer a skill-testing questions and win.

For further information about Spirit Lake, visit www.campspiritlake.ca , on Facebook, email campspiritlake@cableamos.com or call the Centre at 819-727-2267 to book a group visit.

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Nova Scotia French immersion exchange students visiting Camp Spirit Lake Internment Interpretive Centre near Amos, Quebec.