Join us for tipi tours, artifact displays, and much more! Celebrate National Aboriginal Day with us on June 18th.

We’ll be offering special highlight tours with an Aboriginal focus at 12:00 pm and 2:30 pm on Saturday, and tipi tours in the Grasslands Gallery from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Tours are free with regular Museum gallery admission. The Louis Riel Institute will present a display of bison hunting tools and activities in our Orientation Gallery from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

We also welcome you to an event we’re hosting with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. Taking place at the Forks from 11 am until 5 pm on June 18, the celebration’s activities will appeal to a wide audience. This community event will feature a historical interpretive area, where we will be doing tipi demonstrations and Aboriginal artefact interpretations. Enjoy live music and an Aboriginal Marketplace with food and artisans.

Manitoba Museum Exhibit Wins at International Animation Festival

Ever since Ancient Seas was launched this spring in the Museum’s Earth History Gallery, it’s been a huge hit with visitors and critics alike.

The animated undersea observatory won top honours for Best Scientific Visualization at the Red Stick International Animation Festival in Baton Rouge, Louisiana last week. It also won the Red Stick International Animation Festival 2010 Sci-An Awards for excellence in scientific animation in the Natural Science category.

 The exhibit was selected as WHERE Magazine’s choice for the province’s top attraction in 2010. Continue reading ‘Ancient Seas Takes Top Honours’

On May 10^th, the Museum unveils the newest and possibly most exciting piece in our mineral collection: a giant amethyst cluster from the Thunder Bay area, Ontario. This specimen will be on exhibit in the new acquisitions case in the Museum foyer. Although it is a very old piece of rock, it is considered a new acquisition, as it only came through the doors of the Museum last year.

This spectacular crystal cluster was collected in September, 2009, from the Blue Points Amethyst Mine, by mine owner Lyndon Swanson, Greg Hasler, and others. It is the largest specimen Mr. Swanson has seen in ten years owning the mine. 

The amethyst was purchased by the Mineral Society of Manitoba and The Manitoba Museum in partnership (with support from The Manitoba Museum Foundation). Logistical support was kindly provided by The Manitoba Geological Survey, who have the facilities to handle such a huge piece (it may weigh over 300 kilograms, or 700 pounds).  In the future, this splendid specimen will be the centrepiece of a planned mineral exhibit in the Earth History Gallery. 

Amethyst is a coloured form of the common mineral quartz (silicon dioxide). Its violet colour is caused by a combination of iron impurities and natural radiation within the Earth. As the birthstone for February, amethyst is commonly used in jewellery. In the past, it was treasured and valuable, but it lost most of its value when huge deposits were discovered in Brazil in the 18^th century. The Ancient Greeks and Romans used amethyst jewelry and drinking cups, since they believed that amethyst protected them against becoming drunk. In fact, the name “amethyst” comes from the Ancient Greek for “not intoxicated”!

HELP! Miniature herds of bison have taken over The Manitoba Museum, and only you can help us find them.

The tiny rampaging beasts can be found in each of the Museum’s nine galleries. Can you find them all?

To round up the bison, pick up a worksheet at our reception desk. Mark down where you spot the baby buffaloes, and you could win a great prize! Those who find all nine herds will be eligible to win an annual Family Membership or a Family Day Pass to the Museum galleries, Science Gallery, and Planetarium.

Regular admission applies. The program runs during normal opening hours from Tuesday May 10^th to Sunday May 15^th at The Manitoba Museum, 190 Rupert Avenue.

Natural Wonders is  a colourful, fascinating exhibit that celebrate the beauty and diversity of nature with that showcases rarely-seen specimens from our Natural History vaults. Explore the wonder of the natural world through four different environments: oceans, forest, grasslands & deserts, and fresh water. A special display of beetles  in  gorgeous colours and unbelievable sizes is a must-see.

Our animators will be there to greet you with their extraordinary collection on both Saturday and Sunday, May 22 & 23, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

We’re having a Halloween party this weekend! On October 30 & 31, bring your kids to the Science Gallery for a special Halloween celebration. The program runs from 1-4 pm both days. Included with regular SG admission.

Our current Discovery Room exhibit allows you to step into the shoes of an archaeologist.

Imagine 12 puzzles jumbled together with most of the pieces missing. Then imagine you have no picture to use as a guide. Welcome to the world of an archaeologist working with pottery.

Continue reading ‘Ancient Pottery: Piecing Together our Past’

New Artifacts Donated to Social History Collection Have Interesting Stories To Tell

Two fascinating cutting implements, both made of brass but used in very different ways, were recently donated to our Social History collection. By coincidence, a third donation, was a book that laid out the conditions under which one of these tools was to be used. All three items came from individuals with a long history at The Manitoba Museum. Continue reading ‘Answer to a 10-year-old Mystery Found at the Manitoba Museum’

Have you owned a telescope for years, but all it does is collect dust in your basement? Having trouble telling Orion’s belt from Cassiopeia’s throne? Does looking at the night sky cause you to scratch your head in wonder? Then we have the answer for you!

The Manitoba Museum is hosting a six-evening program on the basics of astronomy this winter. Eyes to the Skies will take participants on an in-depth tour of our night sky, including constellations, planets, the Moon, and much, much more.

Using images and video, hands-on demonstrations, handouts and the unique technology of the Planetarium Star Theatre, even the most beginner of stargazers will be able to navigate the night sky like a pro by the end of this course.

 The winter session begins on Wednesday, January 19^th, 2011 and runs six consecutive Wednesdays until February 23rd from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. nightly. For more information, contact instructor Mike Jensen at 988-0613 or mjensen@manitobamuseum.ca.

The Museum is open during the holidays!

December 23     10:00 – 4:00

December 24     10:00 – 1:00

December 25     CLOSED

December 26 – January 5    10:00 – 5:00 daily