MORE THAN 350 INITIATIVE
WITH A 360˚ VISION

The vision for the Moose River Heritage and Hospitality Association dates back to a 2008 community workshop that brought together our three co-founding jurisdictional members – Moose Cree First Nation, MoCreebec Eeyoud Council, and the Town of Moosonee – as well as grassroots community members. It merged the Moose Factory Tourism Association (founded in 2004) and a new Moose Factory Historical Association. Located in Moose Factory and Moosonee, our membership – like our heritage – unites people from the Moose Cree Homeland with people from elsewhere in Omushkego Aski (Western James Bay), from Eeyou Istchee (Eastern James Bay), and from well beyond.

Our mission – as articulated in 2008 – is to preserve, document, and promote our historical and cultural heritage as well as our tradition and ethic of hospitality and reciprocity in order to “build a future with our shared past” not only for ourselves but for those to whom we are tied through relationships of treaty and reciprocity.

Unique Opportunity to Make a Unique Contribution to the World

In 2019, the MRHHA Board foresaw that the upcoming 350th anniversary of Moose Factory, in 2023, offered a unique opportunity for revisioning our shared past and building a better future with it, not only for Moose Factory, but also for the wider James Bay Cree region (Omushkego and Eeyou), and for Ontario, Canada and beyond.

Moose Factory's 350th anniversary has major regional, national, and international importance. Located in the Moose Cree Homeland within the broader Omushkego Aski region, Moose Factory is Ontario’s oldest English-speaking permanent settlement. Prior to Newfoundland’s adhesion to Canadian Confederation, it was also Canada’s oldest surviving English-speaking permanent settlement. It is also one of the oldest continuous sites of Indigenous-European relations and intermarriage in Canada and in the global subarctic.

Established as Moose Fort in 1673, on a much older Moose Cree gathering site, the Hudson’s Bay Company’s second oldest post eventually evolved into the headquarters of its Southern Department. Canoes and ships have been built here, reflecting its role as a trans-Atlantic and trans-continental communication hub. It is a National Historic Site with a rich tangible and intangible heritage that includes a strong history of intercultural reciprocity and hospitality.

Re-Centring our History

The significance of 1673-2023, however, extends well beyond the establishment of a fur-trade post on Moose Factory Island. It presents an opportunity to explore a broader and deeper history of the region, with emphasis on the heritage of hospitality and reciprocity that has seen Eeyou Cree, other Omushkego Cree, and diverse Indigenous and European peoples welcomed into Moose Cree Homeland, friendships, and families for centuries. The MRHHA’s collaboration with the Ontario Heritage Trust in the development of a new trilingual historic site plaque for Moose Factory, unveiled at the Cree Cultural Interpretive Centre on August 5, 2023, is one of several examples of this.

Following Our Elders’ Example

In 1973, Moose Cree First Nation leaders and members worked with other Moose Factory residents to plan a tricentennial anniversary celebration that had a big impact on our community and emphasized that “In this land, no achievement by any people is real unless it respects those who are its First People.” The MRHHA’s objective is to follow their example and leverage the More than 350 anniversary to draw attention to the much deeper and broader history of our community and region, and "build a future with our shared past."

360˚ Vision of our Shared Past and Future

The More than 350 Initiative has emerged as our response to the unique opportunity and challenge presented by this anniversary.

This two-pronged Initiative began with an anniversary celebration entitled More Than 350 Years in the Making: Moose Factory in Omushkego Aski from Time Immemorial to 1673 to 2023 as a catalyst and key component for a larger 360˚ Vision Plan for Building a Future with our Shared Past.

After a three-year planning and lead-up phase that included virtual storytelling celebrations and other events, the commemoration was launched with an Opening Ceremony on March 2023 and ended with a Closing Ceremony on February 16, 2025.

The Euro-Canadian date reference within a Cree calendar indigenized it and enhanced its significance. It also enhanced and highlighted its truly international and intercultural significance, offering a model for reconciliation and reciprocity that anchors the second prong of this initiative: our 360 Vision Plan for Building a Future with our Shared Past.

This plan continues to emerge organically from the pilot projects and partnerships developed around the commemoration. By April 2026, we aim to have a full draft of this plan ready to share more widely, with targets set for 2033, Moose Factory’s 360th anniversary. The goal is to envision and build a regional hub and Canadian model for holistic 360 economic and community development; culture and language revitalization; reconciliation, education, and health – all founded on a rich heritage and ethic of reciprocity and hospitality. As Ontario and Canada seek to envision reconciliation founded on reciprocity with Indigenous peoples, this Initiative has the potential to play a major role well beyond our region.
2019, the MRHHA Board foresaw that the upcoming 350th anniversary of Moose Factory, in 2023, offered a unique opportunity for revisioning our shared past and building a better future with it, not only for Moose Factory, but also for the wider James Bay Cree region (Omushkego and Eeyou), and for Ontario, Canada and beyond.