Manitoba Memories

Situated where the Assiniboine River meets the Red River this has been an historic meeting place throughout the ages. Now it is home to stores, restaurants, playgrounds, a Children’s museum and the Manitoba Theatre for Young People. Be sure to visit the Odeena Meeting Circle especially at times that are seasonally significant like solstices and equinoxes.

Some of the first settlers in Manitoba were Metis, progeny of French Canadian hunters and trappers and indigenous peoples, and this garden includes a Tribute to the Metis Nation designed by two Metis women. There is also an area that pays tribute to the first missionaries to come to Manitoba, the Oblates of Mary Immaculae. Nearby is the St. Boniface Museum where you can explore more information about the French Canadian culture so important to the founding of this province.

Gabrielle Roy is a Franco-Manitobain writer who achieved fame with her novel The Tin Flute set in Montreal. She went on to write many other novels based upon her time spent in Manitoba, especially the years she taught school. Where Nests the Water Hen shows what life was like in a remote French community near Lake Manitoba.

The Winnipeg River has played a significant part in the lives of the people who live near and travel on it. It is the significance of the Winnipeg River, the interaction of the River with the people, and the ultimate impact on the history of Canadian settlement, which is the primary focus of the Winnipeg River Heritage Museum.

Farmers worked hard when they first arrived in Manitoba. See some of the devices they used.