dbergan
Warlord
I became hooked on Civ as a high-schooler in the mid 90s while watching my friend play the original. Shortly thereafter our house got a computer, Civ 2 was released, and with it I addicted my dad and (younger) brothers on the franchise. With Civ 2 Multiplayer Gold I could nuke them from my dorm room while doing homework during their turns. I dabbled briefly with Civ 3 and 4, but ultimately set the series aside for other life priorities like marriage, career, child rearing, and Starcraft.
Then last year I was talking to my 8-year-old about world history and came to realize that he thought that humans have always had electricity. To address this deficit in his 2nd-grade public education, I invested in Civilization 6. A couple months later, he had a general outline of scientific history, can rattle off a number of history’s most notable leaders, and wants to visit every natural and historical wonder in the game. He could hardly contain himself when he found out that the local science museum had a documentary about the Terracotta Warriors, since his empire (Sumeria) had just built the Warriors in his game. We visited the Mall of America, and he asks me, “Daddy, is this a Commercial Hub?” Of course, he names his cities after Pokemon and Minecraft characters, but that just keeps him hooked.
Last week, we took a family trip to Edmonton and Banff heading northwest from our home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. As we mapped out our route I noticed that we were going to be driving past the Poundmaker Reserve. Chief Poundmaker was one of the first unfortunate victims of my son's War Carts. I searched and searched for a museum or something to visit and we found several websites and news articles talking about a historical center, but no address was given. One site did however give the name of the curator, Floyd Favel, and his cell phone number. So last Tuesday, once our car was north of Saskatoon, we called that number to see what would happen. Floyd picked up and gave us detailed directions about how to get to the Poundmaker Historical Center. It was further than we had expected and we weren't able to get there until after closing time (5pm) but he said he had some work to do there anyway and would be happy to keep it open for us.
When we arrived, we were the only visitors and Floyd personally walked us through all the exhibits. He's a direct descendant of Chief Poundmaker, a writer, and a university professor in Montreal. He grew up on the reserve and has visited the Cree and other tribes on many other reservations collecting oral history from the elders before they pass away. He is a mountain of information and had stories for us for hours. The site itself is on the top of a hill with a wonderful view, has Poundmaker's grave and the site of a battle between the Cree and the Canadians. Floyd will bring that battle to life for you and you'll feel each cannonball and casualty. They also perform sun dances on the grounds.
We learned about the nature of the Cree's native religious beliefs, the complicated history between the native religion and Catholicism, the tribe's heroes who fought in World Wars 1 and 2 and the celebrities who went off to Hollywood or fought for certain Indian causes in the 20th century.
The center itself is small with only about 2 and a half rooms of exhibits, but we spent over 2 hours there with Floyd and his knowledge.
I took a few photos and published the Poundmaker Historical Center on Google Maps so others can enjoy this treasure.
Kind regards,
DB
Then last year I was talking to my 8-year-old about world history and came to realize that he thought that humans have always had electricity. To address this deficit in his 2nd-grade public education, I invested in Civilization 6. A couple months later, he had a general outline of scientific history, can rattle off a number of history’s most notable leaders, and wants to visit every natural and historical wonder in the game. He could hardly contain himself when he found out that the local science museum had a documentary about the Terracotta Warriors, since his empire (Sumeria) had just built the Warriors in his game. We visited the Mall of America, and he asks me, “Daddy, is this a Commercial Hub?” Of course, he names his cities after Pokemon and Minecraft characters, but that just keeps him hooked.
Last week, we took a family trip to Edmonton and Banff heading northwest from our home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. As we mapped out our route I noticed that we were going to be driving past the Poundmaker Reserve. Chief Poundmaker was one of the first unfortunate victims of my son's War Carts. I searched and searched for a museum or something to visit and we found several websites and news articles talking about a historical center, but no address was given. One site did however give the name of the curator, Floyd Favel, and his cell phone number. So last Tuesday, once our car was north of Saskatoon, we called that number to see what would happen. Floyd picked up and gave us detailed directions about how to get to the Poundmaker Historical Center. It was further than we had expected and we weren't able to get there until after closing time (5pm) but he said he had some work to do there anyway and would be happy to keep it open for us.
When we arrived, we were the only visitors and Floyd personally walked us through all the exhibits. He's a direct descendant of Chief Poundmaker, a writer, and a university professor in Montreal. He grew up on the reserve and has visited the Cree and other tribes on many other reservations collecting oral history from the elders before they pass away. He is a mountain of information and had stories for us for hours. The site itself is on the top of a hill with a wonderful view, has Poundmaker's grave and the site of a battle between the Cree and the Canadians. Floyd will bring that battle to life for you and you'll feel each cannonball and casualty. They also perform sun dances on the grounds.
We learned about the nature of the Cree's native religious beliefs, the complicated history between the native religion and Catholicism, the tribe's heroes who fought in World Wars 1 and 2 and the celebrities who went off to Hollywood or fought for certain Indian causes in the 20th century.
The center itself is small with only about 2 and a half rooms of exhibits, but we spent over 2 hours there with Floyd and his knowledge.
I took a few photos and published the Poundmaker Historical Center on Google Maps so others can enjoy this treasure.
Kind regards,
DB
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