Harli Raiwet of Whitewood wins Provincial Heritage Fair with her project
June 29, 2026, 11:46 am
Donna Beutler
Harli Raiwet of Whitewood is no stranger to winning a heritage project as this year marks her second year as a local and provincial Heritage Fair winner, having created a winning project two years in a row.
The Whitewood School student is 10 years old and is just completing her Grade 5 year. Not only does she love sports, especially ball, she really enjoys doing experiments in Science class.
“Science is my favorite subject,” Harli told the World-Spectator in a recent interview from her home near Whitewood. “I also like Social class. We have been learning about the federal government in Social.”
The topic she chose for her Heritage Fair project, which was on display at the Whitewood School one day in April to which parents and grandparents and others could view, was entitled, “Lake Athapapuskow: A Canadian Shield Treasure.” And it was this project that she won the provincial title with as well after attending the Provincial Heritage Fair at Government House in Regina in early June. With it being Harli’s second time there, she said she wasn’t even nervous when she had to make her presentation to the judges. She also had her picture taken with Bernadette McIntyre, Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan.
“It was a fun project to research,” Harli said. “It was interesting to learn about how the Indigenous people go fishing and about the Canadian Shield.”
Lake Athapapuskow is a large, deep lake located in northern Manitoba near Flin Flon. The far western edge of the lake is actually located in Saskatchewan and a little peninsula and bay is where Harli gets to spend summer vacation time—at a fishing camp called Pine Point Lodge. The camp is owned by her dad, along with three others, and is a favourite place to visit for the Raiwet family and friends.
“I love to go tubing and fishing when I am at Pine Point Lodge,” Harli said of the time she spends there. “I spend lots of time with my family and friends and my cousins; we eat lots of fish when we are at Pine Point,” she added, “and I love my Baba’s desserts when we are there.”
Cabin-living at Pine Point Lodge seems to suit Harli just fine and she can’t wait to go back up when her family visits there again in August. The camp consists of a handful of cabins and a main lodge as well.
In the meantime, Harli is awaiting the winning results at the national level. Voting on the Heritage Fair projects is on right now, until the end of June. If she wins, she will be making a visit to the capital city of Canada, something that would be really exciting for her.
For Harli’s project, she displayed a map, a display board full of information and a large wooden fish that she and her dad cut out of plywood and spray painted. Her info board included facts about the Canadian Shield, one of the oldest rock formations on earth. She talked about the region being made mostly of solid rock and the challenges of building that it results in. She also talked about the importance of lakes like Lake Athapapuskow for Indigenous peoples, explorers and communities who depended on them for travel, fishing and resources.
The lake, at places over 230 feet deep, is cold and is excellent for lake trout, walleye and northern pike. The largest recorded lake trout, according to Harli’s research, was 63 pounds and over four feet long. It was caught in 1930. Athapapuskow comes from a Cree word meaning “rocks on all sides.”
Harli’s display board also explains why she chose the project she did, saying, “I chose this project because my family recently became one of four new owners of Pine Point Lodge on Lake Athapapuskow in April of 2024, and I thought it would be interesting to learn about the history of the lake and the giant lake trout that make it famous.”
She went on to describe the location of Pine Point Lodge and how fishing lodges like Pine Point help bring in tourism and outdoor recreation to northern Canada.
Last year, northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba were affected by devastating wildfires, and accessing Pine Point Lodge during that time was not possible due to evacuations in that area and highways that were closed. Fortunately for Pine Point Lodge, between firefighters and her dad and some of his friends, Pine Point was saved, though the fire consumed much of the forest on the peninsula that Pine Point sits on, coming within 15 feet of some of the buildings on the property.
Is Harli glad the lodge and the cabins at Pine Point were saved? She sure is because it meant wonderful vacation times there last summer and another trip planned for this summer. She loves to listen to the loons when she is out at the remote spot known as Pine Point Lodge on Lake ‘Athapap’ and there in the quietness of the nearby forests and surrounding lake. The sound of the loons is something really special to all who visit.
