It’s teamwork! Badgers and coyotes sometimes use their unique adaptations to work together in hunting small rodents like the Richardson Ground squirrel. Learn how in this video from the Prairies Gallery with Learning & Engagement producer Erin.
Winnipeg at 150
Posted on: Friday February 2, 2024
By Roland Sawatzky, Curator of History at the Manitoba Museum
This year is the 150th anniversary of the City of Winnipeg. In 1874 it promoted itself from a small village nestled within the larger Red River Settlement, to a bona fide City, with all the aspirations of growth and importance it could muster. The Winnipeg Gallery at the Manitoba Museum is a great place to explore the fascinating history of our city.
The Winnipeg Gallery was completed at the end of 2019, so if you haven’t seen it yet, this year would be a great time. The gallery includes a seven-metre long wall of artifacts, related to seven themes that run through the history of Winnipeg, including Indigenous Homeland, City of Newcomers, and Celebrations, to name a few. And with special digital kiosks, you can do a deep dive into the story of each artifact, like Sergeant Tommy Prince’s authentic war medals, or a billy club from the 1919 General Strike.
This set of medals was awarded to Sergeant Tommy Prince, one of Canada’s most decorated Indigenous war veterans. Sergeant Prince was born on the Brokenhead Ojibway Nation.. The medals reflect his service in WWII and the Korean War. Loan from the Prince Medals Committee. ©Manitoba Museum
Many Winnipeg Grenadiers servicemen were imprisoned during WWII at Sham Shui Po Camp in Hong Kong. One prisoner made this chess set with scraps found at the camp. H9-37-547 ©Manitoba Museum
Discover Winnipeg’s changes over time through our ground-breaking interactive digital map, which lets you explore the city from seven time periods, right up to today. You can release the floodwaters over our unsuspecting city, trace the growth of your neighbourhood, or track the various epidemics (and pandemics) that have hit the city over the last century and a half.
Indigenous history is integrated throughout the gallery, including a nine-Nation treaty established at the Forks in 1285 CE; John Norquay, the Métis premier (1878-1887); the story of Shoal Lake 40 and the Winnipeg Aqueduct; and the 1972 establishment of the era-defining “Professional Native Indian Artists, Inc.” art collective, plus much more.
The inspiring experiences of immigrants in Winnipeg are told through old artifacts and new stories, accessed through a “kitchen table,” where you can sit and listen to the challenges met and overcome by new Canadians, like adapting to the extreme cold, establishing a business, and learning a new language.
This jingle dress was made by Linda Tait from Swan Lake First Nation around 1970. Pow wows are important cultural events in Winnipeg today, and the Jingle Dress Dance is a major feature. H4-0-377 ©Manitoba Museum
During the catastrophic flood of 1950, this pair of hip wader boots was used by a volunteer to assist with relief. Around 100,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes. H9-37-632 ©Manitoba Museum
This is a Kaba dress made by Olayinka Ali in 2018 for the Manitoba Museum. Olayinka is a fashion designer and dressmaker for communities from Africa in Manitoba. H9-38-824 ©Manitoba Museum
Then explore the changes in “Winnipeg 1920.” Most visitors call it the “little town,” but Winnipeg in 1920 was Canada’s third largest city. We’ve made changes to populate it with the diverse peoples of the time.
Our city has had its fair share of important events and contributions to the Canadian story, along with deeply challenging social disparities, from 1874 right to this moment. Winnipeg’s history is tumultuous ever-changing, and contentious. But it isn’t dull. See for yourself!
Dr. Roland Sawatzky
Curator of History
Roland Sawatzky joined The Manitoba Museum in 2011. He received his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Winnipeg, M.A. in Anthropology from the University of South Carolina, and Ph.D. in Archaeology…
Meet Dr. Roland Sawatzky
The Sky for February 2024
Posted on: Wednesday January 31, 2024
The Sky for February 2024
February skies usually mark a transition point between winter and spring, with Imbolc (the Celtic “first day of spring”) occurring at the beginning of the month. Many ancient cultures marked the start of the seasons not using the solstice and equinox, but with the dates halfway between them, since it suited their local weather patterns better. (As a Winnipegger, I’ve never bought into the idea that winter doesn’t start until December 21st!) The modern Groundhog Day draws its inspiration from this custom, falling on Imbolc.
Of course, weather is a local phenomenon, and climate is changing rapidly, so many of these dates seem increasingly out of touch with actual events. In southern Manitoba this year we’ve already had autumn, winter, and spring since the beginning of January, and expect second winter in a couple of weeks – or is it third winter?
Either way, February skies will offer some great sights – if we manage to get any cloud-free nights!
The Solar System
The planets are described in the order they are most visible in this month’s Manitoba skies.
Saturn is visible very low in the southwest after sunset but sets before 7:30pm in Early February. It disappears into the glare of the Sun later in the month as it passes behind our star. It is on the far side of its orbit on February 28th.
Neptune is low in the southwest as darkness falls and sets soon after. You’ll need a telescope and good star-hopping skills to be able to spot it this month as a faint dot.
Jupiter is still high in the southwest after sunset, the brightest object in the evening sky (other than the Moon). Telescope users should enjoy watching as they pass in front of or behind the planet from night to night. Jupiter’s four largest moons can be glimpsed in binoculars, but a telescope allows viewers to see the passing in front of or behind the planet, casting their shadow on the cloud tops, and even reappearing from eclipse as they exit the giant planet’s giant shadow.
Uranus is still about halfway between Jupiter (on the right) and the famous Pleiades (or Seven Sisters) star cluster on the left. You’ll need binoculars to be able to spot it as just one more star in a sea of stars. Point your binoculars halfway along and just below a line from Jupiter to the Pleiades, and Uranus will be in your field of view. If you make a sketch of all the stars you can see and then go back to the same area a few days or a week later, one of the “stars” will have moved. That’s Uranus.
Venus rises early in the morning in the southeast, a brilliant “morning star” that many will notice as during their morning walk or commute. It gets lower each morning as it moves around the far side of the Sun. Also see “Mars”, below.
Mercury drops back into the twilight early in February after a mediocre showing in January’s pre-dawn skies. It passes around the far side of the Sun on February 28th, after which it will reappear in the evening sky this spring.
Mars is still too close to the Sun to be easily seen in the first half of this month, rising just before the Sun in the morning. It passes close to Venus on the 22nd but being much fainter it is unlikely to be seen by most observers.
The dwarf planets are all too faint to be seen without large telescopes, except Ceres, which can sometimes be spotted in binoculars. Unfortunately, Ceres is just coming out of the morning twilight this month and won’t be easily visible until later in the spring.
Celestial Calendar
Fri Feb. 2, 2024: Last Quarter Moon
Tue Feb. 6, 2024 (morning sky): Venus and a thin crescent Moon are both low in the southeast during morning twilight.
Wed Feb. 7, 2024 (morning sky): Theoretically, Venus, Mars, Mercury and the thin crescent Moon are all above the horizon by 8am, but the sky is likely to be too bright to see anything except Venus.
Fri Feb. 9, 2024: New Moon. It’s also the monthly meeting of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s Winnipeg Centre. The meetings are open to the public; find details here.
Wed Feb. 14, 2024 (evening sky): The Moon is to the right of Jupiter in the evening sky. Both fit comfortably into the field of view of typical binoculars (e.g. 7x50s).
Fri Feb. 16, 2024 (evening sky): The First Quarter Moon is close to the Pleiades star cluster.
Tue Feb. 20, 2024 (morning sky): Mars and Venus are in the same telescopic field of view for the next few mornings. You’ll need a clear horizon to the southeast and crystal clear skies to be able to spot Mars against the bright colours of twilight.
Sat Feb. 24, 2024: Full Moon
Thu Feb. 29, 2024: Leap Day plus Dome@Home! We add an extra day in the calendar every four years to keep the calendar in synch with the4 Earth’s orbit around the sun. It actually takes us 365 and a quarter days to orbit the Sun, so every four years we have an extra day to account for. (It’s more complicated than that, since it’s not exactly a quarter day extra, but 0.2422 days… so we don’t have leap years in century years like 2000 and 2100, unless they are divisible by 400. So, 2000 was a leap year; 2100 will not be. Got it?)
Dome@Home, the Manitoba Museum’s award-winning online astronomy show, runs the last Thursday of every month on the Museum’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. This month’s episode will be on February 29th.
Other Events
Zodiacal Light: Towards the end of February, the zodiacal light becomes visible from dark locations. This ghostly cone of light rises into the sky from the horizon along the ecliptic, with its broad end roughly centered on the sunset point on the horizon. The light is the combined glow of myriad dust particles in the plane of our solar system, being backlit at just the right angle to be seen from Earth. See Roy Bishop’s excellent article on this dust on p.268 of the 2024 Observer’s Handbook, published by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
To learn when the International Space Station and other satellites are visible from your location, visit Heavens-Above.com and select the closest city or town to you.
For information on Manitoba’s largest astronomy club, visit the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada – Winnipeg Centre.
Scott Young
Planetarium Astronomer
Scott is the Planetarium Astronomer at the Manitoba Museum, developing astronomy and science programs. He has been an informal science educator for thirty years, working in the planetarium and science centre field both at The Manitoba Museum and also at the Alice G. Wallace Planetarium in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. Scott is an active amateur astronomer and a past-President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
Manitoba Stories: In the Sky
Do you know how to spot Orion in the night sky?
Long winter nights are perfect for sky watching! In this video, Planetarium Astronomer Scott Young will show you how to find the constellation Orion and the Winter Triangle.
Find the next showing of Manitoba Skies on the Planetarium schedule.
Join us for Dome@Home on the last Thursday of the month at 7 pm. We’ll be live on both Facebook and YouTube.
Do you know how we conserve the dioramas? Part 2
Did you know that vibrations and gravity can change the dioramas in the Museum Galleries? These dioramas are cared for by our Conservation team, who have a variety of challenges in their up-keep and must constantly adapt to find solutions to issues that arise! Learn about some of the work of a conservator in this video with Assistant Conservator Loren.
To learn more about diorama conservation in Loren’s recent blog post, click here.
Winnipeg 150: The Winnipeg Gallery
The city of Winnipeg turns 150 this year, with today being the anniversary of the first meeting of City Council! Join Curator of History Dr. Roland Sawatzky in the Winnipeg Gallery to learn some of the amazing stories shared in this space.
This series will continue throughout 2024, so keep an eye out for more #Wpg150 videos!
Do you know how we conserve the dioramas? Part 1
As you travel through the Manitoba Museum, you’re transported to various places and times by the dioramas in the galleries. These dioramas are cared for by our Conservation team, who have a variety of challenges in their up-keep and must constantly adapt to find solutions to issues that arise! In this video, Assistant Conservator Loren shows us his favourite diorama and shares a bit of the upkeep that goes into preserving it.
Come back next week to watch part 2! To learn more about diorama conservation in Loren’s recent blog post, click here.
Did you know light can damage the Museum’s collection?
You may have visited a museum and wondered why some spaces are a bit dark, or have motion sensor lights. It’s to minimize light damage on delicate artifacts! In this video, Senior Conservator Carolyn tells us how conservators work to protect objects on display from light damage, and how you can protect your treasures at home!
Climate Heroes: Youth Against Climate Change
Posted on: Friday January 5, 2024
By Mika Pineda, Learning and Engagement producer for Youth Climate Action at the Manitoba Museum
Working with youth always fascinates me. Their enthusiasm, creativity, and eagerness to learn are contagious; even tackling a complicated topic such as climate change is something that they are ready to take on.
Climate change is a global concern. It is the long-term change in the Earth’s overall temperature, with massive and mostly permanent effects. You see, climate change solutions are not simple for many, but for youth, you would be surprised with what they can come up with given the opportunity.
Young people play an important role in combating the climate crisis. They hold power in making a difference in the community and accelerate climate action. With youth’s increasing awareness and knowledge about climate change, many institutions are stepping up to provide a platform for them to pursue their climate change advocacies.
Participants host events to raise awareness and start important climate conversations. ©Manitoba Museum
The Manitoba Museum launched its first-ever Youth Climate Alliance program in March 2023. The Youth Climate Alliance is a group of high school students, age 14-18, who work together to better understand climate change and its impacts. Through a series of workshops and training, the Youth Climate Alliance host events “by and for” youth.
Since then, the program has had two cohorts with each cohort tackling various issues surrounding climate change – from global and local impacts of climate change to clothing and fast fashion. The participants of the Youth Climate Alliance organize and develop an event that aims to raise awareness and start important climate conversations with their fellow youth and even adults.
The Climate Alliance works together to better understand climate change and its impacts. ©Manitoba Museum
Do you know what your clothes are really made of? The Climate Alliance does! ©Manitoba Museum
While climate change is a big and complicated issue that the world is facing right now, programs such as the Youth Climate Alliance help provide a glimmer of hope to many, and with the start of the new year, the next cohort of the program is also around the corner!
Join the Alliance! The next cohort of the Youth Climate Alliance is now accepting applications.
The first cohort of the Alliance tackled the topic of global and local impacts of climate change. ©Manitoba Museum
The second Climate Alliance cohort explored the issue of “fast fashion” and the industry’s impact on climate. ©Manitoba Museum
Did you know where the HBC Museum started?
Before the Hudson’s Bay Company Museum Collection was donated to the Manitoba Museum, it was displayed elsewhere by the company. Learn how this tableau at the entrance to the HBC Gallery relates to the first HBC Museum in this video with Dr. Amelia Fay.
Check this spot out when you visit during Pyjama Days! Until January 7, 2024, we’re open daily from 10 am to 5 pm, with family fun in all three of our incredible attractions.