Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum (also known as the St. Boniface Museum) is a museum in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, Canada, that is dedicated to

Franco-Manitoban Franco-Manitobans (french: Franco-Manitobains) are French Canadians or Canadian francophones living in the province of Manitoba. According to the 2016 Canadian Census, 40,975 residents of the province stated that French was their mother tongue. In ...

and Métis culture and history. It is located in the oldest building in Winnipeg, a former

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglic ...

run by the Grey Sisters. Begun in 1846 and finished in 1851, the former nunnery has been an orphanage, a school, a seniors' home, and was the first incarnation of the St. Boniface Hospital. The Museum is affiliated with CMA, CHIN, 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) ...

History

The first Grey Nuns who lived in this house arrived in 1844, and lived with Bishop

Norbert Provencher Joseph-Norbert Provencher (February 12, 1787 – June 7, 1853) was a Canadian clergyman and missionary and one of the founders of the modern province of Manitoba. He was the first Bishop of Saint Boniface and was an important figure in the histo ...

until the house had been started. The nuns moved into the house in December 1846, at which time only the exterior of the first floor and the floor of the second floor above the kitchen had been completed. Due to the extreme temperatures of the region, it was necessary to somehow insulate the room. The nuns used bison pelts hung from the ceiling to do this. When the building was finished, there was a basement, two floors and an attic. The building was built using the Red River construction method (also called mortise and tenon or

tongue and groove Tongue and groove is a method of fitting similar objects together, edge to edge, used mainly with wood, in flooring, parquetry, panelling, and similar constructions. Tongue and groove joints allow two flat pieces to be joined strongly together ...

). The building uses no nails to hold it together. In November 1959 the municipality designated a museum for the site and established a board of directors. Since the late 1960s, the nunnery has been administered by first, the city of Saint-Boniface, then the City of Winnipeg after the amalgamation of 1971. The convent building was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

in 1958. The museum has a permanent exhibit dedicated to

Louis Riel Louis Riel (; ; 22 October 1844 – 16 November 1885) was a Canadian politician, a founder of the province of Manitoba, and a political leader of the Métis people. He led two resistance movements against the Government of Canada and its first ...

. On display are locks of his hair, his revolver, his shaving kit, his moccasins and other items belonging to him plus pieces of the rope used to hang Riel, the white hood placed on him before he was hanged, and the coffin on which his body was placed after his execution.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Musee Museums in Winnipeg History museums in Manitoba Ethnic museums in Canada Museums established in 1959 National Historic Sites in Manitoba Municipal Historical Resources of Winnipeg Franco-Manitoban culture Religious buildings and structures completed in 1861 Residential buildings completed in 1861 1959 establishments in Manitoba Tourist attractions in Winnipeg Saint Boniface, Winnipeg