Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach will use the July 1st holiday to kick off its next exhibit. Curator Andrea Dyck says it is called, Storied Places.

Canada is celebrating its 150th birthday in 2017. But what does this mean to Mennonites in southern Manitoba? Canadian Confederation happened in 1867, yet Mennonites only arrived here in 1874. Dyck says when trying to decide how to celebrate our nation's 150th birthday, the museum kept in mind that Mennonites weren't here on Confederation Day.

Instead, Dyck says they are using the big day on July 1st as a starting point to explore our local place in Canada. Storied Places looks at the relationship that Mennonites have had with place. It asks, how do we give meaning to place and how does place give meaning to us.

According to Dyck, this exhibit will explore four themes: Space, Place, Neglect and Memories. Some of the artifacts in the exhibit will include village plans. So, for example, how did Mennonites organize their villages to reflect the homes that they left behind in Russia. And, how does that give meaning to this place in Manitoba, where Mennonites didn't have a connection to the Manitoba environment.

In terms of neglect, Dyck says the exhibit looks at what happens when we neglect our history. She questions whether there are benefits and drawbacks of forgetting about the past. This theme explores the last house barn that stood in Steinbach. It was bulldozed in order to make room for a car lot at the present day Victoria Plaza. One of the artifacts in this exhibit is an old medicine cabinet that has been painted with statements speaking out against the tearing down of history.

As for memories, Dyck says in the mid-20th century, Mennonites started to realize how much they had forgotten about their past and what they were leaving behind. Part of that theme explores the role the museum plays in this. MHV has buildings from both the East and West Reserve. Dyck questions whether the connection is lost or gained by removing these buildings from their original context and then grouping them at the museum.

"Hoping to get people to reflect on their own lives," says Dyck. "And see how we make meaning out of place and how place does give us meaning in our own lives as individuals but then as a community here as Mennonites or as non-Mennonites in Steinbach as well."

Dyck says the idea for this exhibit all started with an artifact. About 18 months ago, the museum took possession of a model house barn. It was built to scale, standing about four feet long and three feet wide. Dyck says it is a fascinating artifact, complete with house, summer kitchen, barn, sheen and two-door outhouse. It was made by Harold Fast, depicting a house that still stands today in Kleefeld. She notes each floor of the house can be removed in order to see the floor plan below. It was this artifact that brought about the question of what drives somebody to commemorate a house that the individual lived in for only a few years as a teenager.

Storied Places is not only an exhibit about dates and facts, Dyck says she hopes it gets people thinking about where we come from.

The exhibit will be up until next spring.