Three Chiefs Culture Center celebrates new home

CAROLYN HIDY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 9 months AGO

These 1890 beaded moccasins, the museum's oldest exhibit, survived the People's Center fire because they were in this glass case. (Carolyn Hidy/Lake County Leader)

Red dresses on loan to the museum, bringing attention to the Murdered and Missing Indigenous People movement, are part of a new display. (Carolyn Hidy/Lake County Leader)

This photo of a Kootenai fisherman in a sturgeon-nosed canoe survived the fire. (Carolyn Hidy/Lake County Leader)

Geri Hewankorn, curation technician, shows an intricately beaded vest she is still in the process of cleaning. Each bead is painstakingly cleaned with alcohol on a cotton swab. (Carolyn Hidy/Lake County Leader)

Cutting the ribbon to celebrate the grand opening of Three Chiefs Culture Center in St. Ignatius were, from left, Aggie Incashola, Marie Torosian, Geri Hewankorn and Loushie Charlo. They have worked tirelessly to recover artifacts from the People's Center fire last year, several of which are now on display. (Courtesy of Twila Irvin)

ST. IGNATIUS —Nine months after the People’s Center in Pablo was destroyed by arson, the efforts of the center’s dedicated staff, volunteers and community members to restore and rebuild the collection are on display.

With ceremony and prayer, the Three Chiefs Culture Center in St. Ignatius celebrated the grand opening of its new museum June 4. The center’s gift shop opened last December, offering beads, cultural-themed gifts and locally handmade items when available.

“The opening is to welcome the public and community back again,” said Marie Torosian, program director at the center. “We want to thank them all for their support and let them see how we’re doing.”

Historical pieces are added to the new displays as they are cleaned and restored by the museum’s staff. Many precious, irreplaceable items were lost in the fire, but those that survived have been carefully stored, with restoration efforts in progress locally as well as by expert conservators across western Montana.

Three Chiefs Culture Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Allard Complex in St. Ignatius. For more information visit them on Facebook, call 675-0160 or visit threechiefs.org.

Red dresses on loan to the museum, bringing attention to the Murdered and Missing Indigenous People movement, are part of a new display. (Carolyn Hidy/Lake County Leader)