Canada Guide
Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Musée de Saint-Boniface
Opening time: May– Sept Mon– Fri 9am– noon, Sat & Sun 10am–5pm; Oct to mid-May Mon– Fri 9am– noon Sun noon–4pm
Price: $2
Telephone: 204/237-4500
Website: www.msbm.mb.ca
The Musée de Saint-Boniface is housed in an attractive whitewashed building across from the cathedral. The oldest building in Winnipeg and the largest squared-oak log building in North America, it was built between 1846 and 1851 as a convent for the Grey Nuns, a missionary order whose four-woman advance party had arrived by canoe from Montréal in 1844. Subsequently, the building was adapted for use as a hospital, a school and an orphanage. Inside, a series of cosy rooms are devoted to the Red River Colony, notably an intriguing collection of Métis memorabilia that includes colourful sashes – the most distinctive feature of Métis dress. You can also see the battered wooden casket used to transport Riel's body from Regina to St Boniface. There's also a lovely little chapel, whose papier-mâché Virgin was made from an old newspaper that one of the original Grey Nuns found outside Upper Fort Garry when she walked across the frozen river to buy food.