All Attractions open
Thursday – Sunday
11 am – 5 pm
See Planetarium show
schedule, here.
We look forward to seeing you!
FACE MASKS ARE REQUIRED
at the Manitoba Museum.
This policy will be in place
until further notice.
Click for Holiday Hours
Hours of operation vary for different holidays.
Victoria Day (May 23)
All attractions open
11 am – 5 pm
Like many of you, I am eagerly awaiting spring so that I can start planting my vegetable garden. There’s nothing better than eating bruschetta with freshly harvested vine-ripened tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) and steamed green beans (Phaseolus sp.) with fried cream (see recipes at the end). My mouth drools just thinking about it! But the funny thing about tomatoes and green beans is that they are not actually vegetables: they are…
Bison rubbing stones are icons of the prairies. These large stones were originally transported south by Ice Age glaciers, then left behind on the prairies when the glaciers melted and receded roughly 12,000 years ago. They are therefore considered to be a form of fieldstone, and such large blocks of fieldstone are commonly called glacial erratics. In the millennia since the glaciers left this region, rubbing stones have undergone a…
A Manitoba winter, especially this one, without the friendly, buzzy, “chick-a-dee-dee” calls of our neighbourhood black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) would be that much harder to endure. The prolonged cold spells, incredible wind chills, and many blizzards made these birds and their cheery presence even more welcome at our backyard feeders. But while we were entertained watching from behind the window of a warm house, these tiny, 14-gram balls of fluff…
Post by Nancy Anderson, Collections Management Specialist (Human History) Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has played a central, and disruptive role in all our lives. In the coming decades will COVID become a significant cultural memory, or will we begin to suffer from historic amnesia? Terabytes of information may be deposited in archives around the world. For museums, even ordinary artifacts will become powerful tools to engage…
By Dr. Diana Bizecki Robson, Curator of Botany During the pandemic, many people have experienced increased stress levels due to illness, work difficulties, and isolation. But many of us have discovered there is solace to be had in the natural world. In 1984, biologist E.O. Wilson noted that “biophilia”, or a “love of nature”, is a normal part of human psychology. We don’t just love nature; we need it…
Post by Janis Klapecki, Collections Management Specialist (Natural History) As part of the Manitoba Museum’s entomology collection, we house over 60,000 pinned insects, true bugs, and arachnids. In addition, there are a further ~3000 invertebrates preserved in alcohol, also referred to as “wet” specimens. While the majority of the collection are pinned insects in their adult form, there are also examples of the many and varied life stages that occur…
On the surface, plant sex seems pretty simple. Birds and bees transfer pollen from one flower to another and voila: seeds are produced. But, like most things in life, plant reproduction is much more complicated than initially meets the eye. FINDING A MATE For starters, plants are not like mammals when it comes to gender. Only about 5-6% of all flowering plant species are dioecious, that is, having separate “males”…
Post by Carolyn Sirett, Conservator and Lee-Ann Blase, Conservation Volunteer We have all seen those lifeless mannequins looking sad and lonely in a store’s window front, longing for the next wardrobe change of a new season. Here at the museum we like to give our mannequins a bit more attention to detail compared to their retail cousins, what some might call, a full spa treatment! Humans are uniquely different from…
By Scott D. Young, Planetarium Astronomer Why are people fascinated by the stars? Perhaps because we see ourselves reflected in them. The rotation of the Earth defines our days with the rising and setting of the Sun. Every culture throughout history has drawn its hopes and dreams in the night sky, developing its own constellations to help track the seasons. These cycles have defined the human experience throughout time, and…
At the edge of the solar system, there is a cloud of small, icy objects that are left over from the formation of the solar system. They’re too small to see from Earth, and much too far to visit, and yet they are like a deep=freezer full of evidence of how our solar system formed, preserved in the cold of deep space. Luckily, every so often one of these icy…
The Manitoba Museum acknowledges we are on Treaty No. 1 land, the ancestral lands of the Anishinaabeg and Ininíwak. These lands are the unceded territories of the Dakota, and the homeland of the Métis Nation. The Museum is committed to reflecting the continued legacy of all the original peoples of this province, including the Ithiniwak, Denesułine, Anishininiwak, Inuit, and Nakota.
We acknowledge the harms of the past, are committed to improving relationships in the spirit of reconciliation, and appreciate the opportunity to live and learn on these traditional lands in mutual respect.
Manitoba Museum is accredited by Imagine Canada for excellence in non-profit accountability, transparency and governance.
