The Forks River Trail opens Tuesday

The name for this year's River Trail is honouring the area's thousands of years of history.

The sounds of skates scraping ice and hockey pucks jumping from stick to stick may be more recent in The Forks history, but it has always buzzed with activity with people from different nations. This year's River Trail, which opened Tuesday, honours the longstanding history.

“Nestaweya (Ness-ta-way-ah) is the original Cree name used for the site of The Forks, and the area we now call Winnipeg,” The Forks Indigenous Curator, Niigaan Sinclair says in the statement.

He says Cree came from the north on the Red River, Ojibway from the south on the Red River; and, Lakota/Dakota/Nakota or Assiniboine came from the west on the Assiniboine River, making up the three points at The Forks.

“Manitobans come from all directions to The Forks, just as they’ve been doing for over 6,000 years,” Chief Executive Officer Sara Stasiuk says.

 The Winnipeg Foundation is sponsoring the trail once again this year, committing to sponsor the trail for the next five years.

"The newly named Nestaweya River Trail honours the Indigenous communities who have come together where rivers meet for thousands of years. We look forward to 2022 where we will share new exciting activities for this historic trail," The Winnipeg Foundation CEO Sky Bridges says.

The Forks asks people to stick to the official Nestaweya River Trail as they test the ice's safety. More sections will open as the season continues.

Skating rinks at Canopy Rink, CN Stage Rink, and Upper Trails are open. The Forks' ice skate rental is open. The Warming Huts are not yet open.