The Huronia Museum is located in Midland,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. The museum consists of the museum building (housing collections and art gallery) and the

Huron Huron may refer to: People * Wyandot people (or Wendat), indigenous to North America * Wyandot language, spoken by them * Huron-Wendat Nation, a Huron-Wendat First Nation with a community in Wendake, Quebec * Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi ...

/Ouendat (Wendat) village (palisade and longhouse). The museum is open year-round and has nearly one million objects and receives some 20,000 visitors each year. The collections include artifacts pertaining to native history and

maritime history Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...

. The museum provides educational programmes for schools and adults.

History

On July 1, 1947, the Huronia Museum first opened in a large wooden frame building that had been the family residence of James Playfair, a prominent Midland businessman. The current museum building was Midland's Canada Centennial project and officially opened on July 1, 1967 in Little Lake Park adjacent to the Huron/Ouendat (Wendat) Village.

Exhibits

In 1976, the Historic Art of Huronia Gallery in the museum building opened and presently displays art by David Milne,

Homer Watson Homer Ransford Watson (January 14, 1855 – May 30, 1936) was a Canadian landscape painter. He has been characterized as the painter who first painted Canada as Canada, rather than as a pastiche of European painting. He was a member and pres ...

, Manly MacDonald, Franklin Arbuckle, Hilton Hassell, Mary Hallen (Victorian era watercolours),

William J. Wood William J. Wood was a Canadian painter, etcher (May 26, 1877January 5, 1954) Wood was a close friend of several members of the Group of Seven: Arthur Lismer and A.Y. Jackson. In 1923 at one exhibition Wood is listed as a member of the Group of Sev ...

, Thor Hansen, Group of Seven artists (

A.Y. Jackson Alexander Young Jackson LL. D. (October 3, 1882April 5, 1974) was a Canadian painter and a founding member of the Group of Seven. Jackson made a significant contribution to the development of art in Canada, and was instrumental in bringing toget ...

Franz Johnston Francis Hans Johnston (also known as Frank H. Johnston and as Franz Johnston) (June 19, 1888July 9, 1949) was a member of the Group of Seven. Life and career Frank Johnston was born on June 19, 1888 in Toronto, the son of Hugh Hans and Mary Eliza ...

J. E. H. MacDonald James Edward Hervey MacDonald (1873–1932) was an English-Canadian artist, best known as a member of the Group of Seven who asserted a distinct national identity combined with a common heritage stemming from early modernism in Europe in the ear ...

) along with contemporary art, native art and archaeological collections of Ouendat and Ojibway First Nations. Other exhibits are about Georgian Bay lighthouses, shipwrecks, maritime and military heritage. There is also an extensive photographic collection of the work of Midland's long-time professional photographer, John W. Bald.

Huron Village

The Huron Village represents what Huron life was like between AD 1500-1600, just prior to the arrival of Europeans. The village has the following components: shaman's lodge, wigwam, masks, fish racks, longhouse, corn field, bone pit, fur drying rack, burial rack. The Huron Village was created by W. Wilfrid Jury (1890–1981), Director of the Museum of Indian Archaeology and Pioneer Life at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

in London. The village is modeled on Jury's work on the excavation of the pre-contact Forget site near Midland. The village originally opened in 1956. In May 2007, a fire destroyed three quarters of the village but has since reopened to the public. File:Huronia Museum in Little Lake Park, Midland (I0005576).tif, Huronia Museum in Little Lake Park, Midland, 1958 File:Huronia Museum in Little Lake Park, Midland (I0005577).tif, Huronia Museum in Little Lake Park, Midland, 1958

Affiliations

The Museum is affiliated with: CMA,

CHIN The chin is the forward pointed part of the anterior mandible (List_of_human_anatomical_regions#Regions, mental region) below the lower lip. A fully developed human skull has a chin of between 0.7 cm and 1.1 cm. Evolution The presence of a we ...

, and

Virtual Museum of Canada The Digital Museums Canada (DMC; , ''MNC'') is a funding program in Canada "dedicated to online projects by the museum and heritage community," helping organizations to build digital capacity. Administered by the Canadian Museum of History (CMH) ...

References

External links

Huronia Museum
{{authority control History museums in Ontario Art museums and galleries in Ontario First Nations museums in Canada Open-air museums in Canada Maritime museums in Ontario Museums in Simcoe County Midland, Ontario Museums established in 1947 1947 establishments in Ontario History of Simcoe County