Category Archives: History

Jan 9, 2019  Post by Dr. Leah Morton, Assistant Curator (History) This research was supported by a grant from the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund. During the Great War, 8,579 people were sent to internment camps in Canada. Over 5,000 of them were Austro-Hungarian, or Ukrainian, civilians who had been classified as ‘enemy aliens.’ They were from countries Canada was fighting against, but the main reason for their…

Posted by Dr. Leah Morton, Assistant Curator (History) This research was supported by a grant from the Canadian First World War Internment Recognition Fund. During the Great War (1914-1918) Canada interned thousands of German and Ukrainian immigrants. Internment camps were set up across the country and a few ‘receiving stations’ were opened to process and hold those slated for internment. One of these receiving stations was located at the Fort…

Medals that commemorate important events in a nation’s history fill every history museum collection around the planet. Collectors and antique traders adore medals, but let’s be honest: when they’re on display they don’t have the impact of a giant dinosaur skeleton. Medals are small. But that didn’t stop politicians and government officials from clamouring for shiny objects when Canadian Confederation was officially enacted in 1867. In our exhibit “Legacies of…

After Manitoba entered Confederation in 1870 and the Canadian government negotiated Treaty No. 1 with First Nations leaders, Canada began to actively engage potential immigrants to settle and farm the prairies. The first two groups that arrived in large numbers were English speaking Ontarians and German speaking Mennonites from eastern Ukraine. This first large wave of immigration to Manitoba would begin the irrevocable transformation of the environment and the economy…

The Manitoba Museum is hosting the Canadian Museum of History national travelling exhibit “Terry Fox: Running to the Heart of Canada” exhibit, opening July 14, 2016. The exhibit features the incredible story of Terry Fox as he embarked on the Marathon of Hope in 1980 to raise funds for cancer research. The marathon, which so many Canadians remember through annual Terry Fox Runs, is memorialized by personal artefacts collected by…

Usually geese migrate from North to South and back again. Some goose decoys, however, migrated from Manitoba to British Columbia a hundred years ago, and have now come home to Manitoba again. A woman from Victoria, British Columbia called some time ago wanting to donate a batch of goose decoys that had been in the possession of her father. Duck and goose decoys used for hunting are common enough items,…

By Kelly Burwash, Practicum student, Master of Arts in Cultural Studies/Curatorial Practices, University of Winnipeg One of the great things about museums is that they can help foster relationships with (so-called) distant historical events. My placement at The Manitoba Museum involves doing research for an upcoming exhibition on the 150th anniversary of Confederation. As a new resident of Manitoba, it has been especially interesting for me to research what Confederation…