Why Manage Our Heritage

Why is heritage important?

What is Heritage?

Heritage is:

  • Knowledge, traditions and places that are passed down from previous generations
  • A wide range of activities such as stewardship, conservation, research and education
  • An opportunity to encourage sensitivity to the natural environment and to differing perspectives on objectives, ideas, places and traditions

Heritage is not:

  • Limited by age; a meaningful event or place from a few years ago may be significant to a community and merit commemoration or conservation
  • A static concept or permanent classification

* From the Municipal Heritage Resource Guide, published by Historic Resources Branch of Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism,82 pages, 1 MB, PDF

Recognizing our heritage is important. Our past has shaped us and gives us insight for our future. By identifying, protecting, and interpreting our heritage, we honour those who came before and learn about our unique identity.

Heritage is also a resource for teaching, cultural tourism and other kinds of economic development in the community.

A community’s heritage has a vast scope: buildings, items, people, events, stories and geographic sites. There are {tip tangible::a thing you can touch}tangible{/tip} things you can see and touch and {tip intangible::unable to be touched or grasped; not having physical presence}intangible{/tip} things that you can’t like stories about people and events. All are equally important in telling the story of your community.

Manitoba Municipal Heritage Advisory Committees

The R.M. of St. Clements Heritage Advisory Committee is a Manitoba Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee (MHAC).

MHACs began with the Historic Resources Act of 1986, which gave local municipal councils the authority to create a committee to advise them on local heritage issues.

The R.M. of St. Clements Heritage Advisory Committee is highly-respected and one of the most active heritage committees in the province, initiating several cutting-edge projects including geocaching and development of a website.

Community Heritage Manitoba

As a Manitoba Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee, the R.M. of St. Clements Heritage Advisory Committee is a member of Community Heritage Manitoba (CHM), an association of MHACs intended to promote sharing of ideas and experiences between heritage groups.

Community Heritage Manitoba was formed at the 6th annual MHAC conference held in Baldur , Manitoba on October 25th, 1997.

CHM supports members in their efforts to identify, protect, promote, develop and interpret the heritage of their communities.

For more information contact:

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