The Souris Valley Museum wants to gather the memories of senior citizens about how Estevan has changed over the years.
The museum has launched Oral Histories of Estevan, a program that takes place on Monday mornings at 10 a.m. at the museum. It started this past Monday, and while they didn’t attract anyone, director-curator Mark Veneziano said the museum isn’t giving up.
The first session was supposed to be an orientation and an opportunity to get to know the other participants. Program facilitator Maria Michails had some activities planned so the seniors could get their memories on paper.
It will be offered again this coming Monday, and if they do get some attendance, it will continue on Oct. 2 and 16.
“This is a project for our seniors in our community to have the opportunity to come to the museum and share stories of why they came to Estevan or what has changed in Estevan over time,” said Veneziano.
“It is also a time for us to learn about history from people who lived in the community for long periods of time.”
Ideally, there will be dialogue among individuals administered by Michails, a PhD student from Eastern Canada who is completing some of her studies in Estevan.
“When she approached us about doing a project together, she really wanted to learn about stories, and it was a really good fit, because we wanted to know experiences other people have had in Estevan throughout their time,” said Veneziano.
Michails will have some dialogue questions each week for the participants, but the goal is to learn about all sorts of experiences.
“One that we would really like to focus on is the energy, and the energy sector within Estevan,” said Veneziano. “So if anyone wanted to share their experiences in working the energy field, or just what they think of being part of the Energy City (we would welcome it).”
But it would be open dialogue about what has happened to Estevan in its history. He hopes there will be some nuggets of information that might not have been known previously.
“There’s only so much recorded in history books, so if we could get individuals’ stories about what has happened, there might be slightly different versions of stories, and so documenting these oral histories will give us a better understanding of what happened in Estevan,” said Veneziano.
Michails said the museum has wanted to do an oral histories project for some time, and when she approached them about the concept, she was delighted they were on the same page.
“They want to build an archive, and I want to make art projects out of it,” said Michails.
Not only does she want to hear the stories that are shared, but she hopes people will bring in artifacts and photographs of their time growing up in the Estevan area to show how the community has changed over the years.
“It’s partially dialogue, but through these artifacts that they bring in, we want to create a collaborative project that is inspired by these artifacts and these stories,” Michails said.
It will all go towards an exhibit at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum in 2019. There will also be a future display on stories from the area at the Souris Valley Museum as well, which will allow people to come and listen or read about their stories.
“I think it would be a really good interactive display, especially for the younger generations coming in, because they could listen to stories from their older generations,” said Veneziano.
The history of Estevan is important, Veneziano said. When people in the community come and talk about their experiences in the city, it will help the museum in the future to document local history.
While they didn’t get anyone for the first week, Veneziano said some people hve expressed an interest in being part of the program. Five to eight people would be an ideal number each week for people who want to learn from each other.
Just because someone misses a week doesn’t mean they can’t attend again.
“We would like to have a solid number willing to come and discuss their time in Estevan,” he said.
Veneziano said the museum will be offering another session in the spring to get people to share their stories.
