Northern Life Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1964 |
|---|---|
| Location | 110 King Street, Fort Smith Northwest Territories, Canada |
| Type | Rural history museum |
The Northern Life Museum is a cool place to visit in Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, Canada. It's like a giant treasure chest filled with over 13,000 items! These items tell the amazing stories of the people and history of Canada's North. Many of these special artifacts were collected by the Oblate Fathers and the Grey Nuns. They gathered these pieces while doing their important missionary work in the North.
Contents
Discovering the Museum's History
The museum's story began in 1964. That's when its first collection of artifacts was put on display. You could find them in the basement of Grandin College. A few years later, in 1972, a group called the Northern Anthropological and Cultural Society was formed in Fort Smith. Their big goal was to create and keep a museum running. The Northern Life Museum holds a special record: it's the oldest museum in the entire Northwest Territories!
Exploring the Museum's Collections
The Northern Life Museum has many interesting things to see, both inside and outside. Let's take a look at some of the cool exhibits!
Outdoor Displays and Old Machines
Outside the museum, you'll find a collection of old farm equipment and machines. These were once used in and around Fort Smith. One of the coolest items is a Holt tractor. This tractor was brought north in 1919. It helped move things along the portage route between Fort Fitzgerald and Fort Smith. You can also see the Radium King. This vessel first carried uranium and radium ore. Later, it was used to push barges along the water.
Inside the Museum: Themed Exhibits
Inside, the museum's displays are set up around five main themes. Each theme helps you imagine what life was like in the North.
- Northern Trading Post: Step back in time to an authentic northern trading post. This is where people would trade goods long ago.
- 1940s Northern Kitchen: See what a typical kitchen looked like in the North during the 1940s.
- Mighty Bison: There are two large, mounted adult bison on display. These huge animals are a symbol of the North.
- Trapper's Cabin: Explore a traditional trapper's cabin. Imagine living and working in the wilderness.
- Vintage Snowmobile: Check out a 1965 Polaris Sno-Traveler. This was an early type of snowmobile!
- River Bank Scene: See a river bank scene featuring a beautiful birch bark canoe. Canoes were super important for travel.
The Whooping Crane Story
The museum also has a special display about whooping cranes. These are very rare birds! The last natural group of these migratory birds nests near Wood Buffalo National Park. One special crane, named Canus, was found injured in 1964. Researchers couldn't release him back into the wild. So, Canus became the first bird in a new captive breeding program in Maryland. This program was a huge success, and Canus became famous worldwide. In 2004, Canus became a permanent part of the Northern Life Museum's exhibits.
Outdoor Cultural Centre
The museum also has an outdoor Aboriginal Cultural Centre. This area shows how Canada's First Peoples lived traditionally. You can learn about their ways of life before Europeans arrived in the early 1800s. It features a working cold cache (a natural refrigerator), a smokehouse, and a tipi. These are all available for visitors to see and learn from.
Museum Connections
The Northern Life Museum works with several important organizations. These include the CMA, the CHIN, and the Virtual Museum of Canada. These connections help the museum share its stories and collections with even more people.
