Canadian Museum of Civilization Would Make the First People Proud
Written: Feb 19 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Amazing artifacts and displays.
Cons: None
The Bottom Line: This is a fantastic museum. One of the best I have been to.
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| jo.com's Full Review: Canadian Museum of Civilization |
The Canadian Museum of Civilization is one of the most amazing museum to which I have been. It is also the largest so I will attempt to make this review shorter than a manuscript. I have 4 different maps of the museum in front of me just to give you an idea of the size of the museum. On top of it being large there are museums within this museum!
Basic Details:
We were in Ottawa so we crossed the bridge to Quebec where French is the main language. In the Museum you will see everything in French first then English.
If anything peaks your interest and you want more information the website is http://www.civilization.ca/indexe.asp
The address is 100 Laurier Street, Station B, Gatineau, Quebec. The phone number is 1-800-555-5621.
There is on site parking for $1.50 per half hour or $8.50 for the day.
Their hours vary by months. From May 1 to October 11 it is open seven days a week from 9:00a.m. to 6:00p.m and Thursdays until 9:00p.m. (The Canadian Children‘s Museum, which is inside, closes at 7:00p.m. Between July 1 and September 6 the Museum stays open on Fridays as well as Thursdays until 9:00p.m. From October 12 to April 30 the museum is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9:00a.m. to 5:00p.m with the Children‘s Museum closing at 5:00p.m. This gives you an idea of their busy season.
We were there on August 13, 2004. That was a Saturday so it was busy but it is so large we never had to wait to see a display.
The museum has free times. They are every Thursday from 4:00p.m. to 9:00p.m and half price on Sundays. Adults are $10.00; students are $6.00; children 3-12 are $4.00 and a family of 4 with 2 adults pays $22.00. IMAX is a separate charge. If you think you will go you may want to buy a combination ticket which will save you money. As an adult rather than spending $9.50 for the IMAX theater making the cost $19.50 you can buy a ticket for $17.00 but do this only if you plan to go.
There is a Cafeteria here where we got a snack; you can also have fine dining at the Cafe du Musee. You can get sandwiches at Cafe Express in one of the many lobbies. There is a wonderful store on level 2. The items are beautiful. You can pick up a souvenir such as a magnet or a beautiful piece of cloth art as I did.
There are services for the disabled; a coat room; courtesy baby carriers, wheelchairs and strollers.
Let us step inside:
I was impressed with how beautiful this museum is both inside and outside. Inside the quality of the exhibits are excellent. The workmanship and details are superb. There are exhibits and carvings everywhere. Looking up you will see a huge canoe that hangs from the ceiling (If you are on the second level you will see it eye to eye.) with real looking people in it. This is the first thing you will see as you walk in past a beautiful waterfall.
This is a gem in the AAA book but they did not tell us how much time to allow ourselves as they often do. You do need a whole day. My notes say we spent about six hours here, one of which was seeing an IMAX film called the Coral Reef. I did not like the Coral Reef all that much so if it is still there you might want to choose another one. It was more educational than fun. There was one called Speed and I think we would have preferred that one. You might want to ask which one would be most appropriate for you or your family. Coral Reef was great for children.
We started on Level 1 (There are 3.) in what is called The Grand Hall. We spent almost 2 hours going into 6 rooms designed to be houses showing how the Aboriginal community lived in British Columbia. The displays of the First Nation or Native People (Remember this is Canada so Native Americans is not used.) were informative, fun to look at and abundant. I found it fascinating to learn that the First Nation played so little a part in Canada ‘s history (not unlike the United States) in spite of the fact they were there 10,000 years before European settlers.
The totem poles are gorgeous, the wood carvings authentic and every room different than the other. Every kind of media is used in this museum. Most of the displays are dark to keep the light from ruining them but you can take pictures.
After these six rooms you will go into The First Peoples Hall. There was supposed to be a floor plan of this Hall at the entrance as there were at other entrances but there wasn‘t even a stand for one. I asked later and was told that they had not been given a stand to put the brochures on. In such an amazing museum this surprised me.
The First Peoples‘ Hall is the largest permanent exhibition on the history, diversity and continuity of the First People. You will see artifacts, many works of art and a variety of audiovisual presentations which take the First People from their earliest origins to the present day. You can get a guided tour of the first floor for an additional cost.
This area is organized into three large zones: At the entrance you will see ”Aboriginal Presence” with displays such as ”Naming the Land” and ”Origin Stories.” There are storytelling audio booths, performances, workshops and demonstrations here and throughout the museum. They change so you will look at the Calendar of Events for that week. The second zone is called ”An Ancient Bond with the Land” and shows how the First People adapted to their environment and the skills they needed. ”Arctic Whalers” and ”Communal Hunters” are two of the exhibits you will see here. The third zone is called ”Arrival of Strangers- The Last 500 Years.” You will see ”Belief” an exhibit showing how Christianity challenged Aboriginal beliefs and ”Social Gatherings” to name just two of the many.
This might be a good time for a pizza, croissant or ice cream break at the cafeteria. It is not top notch food but it is food! We did not go to the second floor. There you will find The Canadian Postal Museum; the Canadian Children‘s Museum and something called Summer Fun at Adventure World. During the summer if you are in the Children‘s Museum you can go outside to a park of fun and games. Obviously the second floor will appeal to children primarily. The suggested time in the Children‘ Museum is 3 hours and thirty minutes in the Postal Museum.
You will then head to the 3rd floor which is the history of the Canadian people. This is called The Canada Hall which took us across the country from east to west covering 1,000 years of Canadian history in a series of life-sized environments. We got a floor plan here. You might see actors from Dramamuse, the Museum‘s theatre company. They enact the daily lives of people from Canada‘s past and you can ask them questions. This was the only area where I found people to whom we could address questions. Some exhibits you will see include ‘The Vikings‘, ‘Fur Trade‘ and the ‘Pacific Gateway.‘ We listened with headphones, watched videos; saw amazing collections of everything imaginable. The tools and clothes in this collection are wonderful.
Because we do not know the history of Canada there was a few gaps for us. A guided tour on this floor would have been nice. I thought at first that it was a glitch with the museum but after thinking about it we decided it was our lack of knowledge. On the other hand the fact that Canada is ruled by the English today even with the French culture is not explained as well as it could have been. In any case it was a fantastic museum and I agree with AAA‘s rating of the museum being a gem.
I have seen ”fake rooms”. The rooms on the third floor are not just rooms. They have created a town complete with uneven walking surfaces and blue skies. You will feel as if you are in a real town. I know you have been to many like this but this one is different. It was the most authentic I have seen.
You will want to go outside to the beautiful Zen garden. The garden is a combination of a traditional Japanese Zen garden and Canadian rock and Canadian plants in a Zen design. Since we were on a part of the museum‘s roof we could see wonderful views of Ottawa.
My Final Thoughts:
In spite of a couple of areas I thought were weak such as the lack of a floor plan this is a fantastic actually amazing not to be missed museum. All ages will enjoy it here. I just urge you to give yourself enough time so you do not feel rushed.
Feel free to ask me any questions or leave a comment.
I am keeping track of the reviews I am writing chronicling our 3-month cross country trip.
Applebee's in Ohio
Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky • Bella Notte This is a restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky
Buckstaff Bathhouse in Hot Springs, Arkansas • Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas
Bicentennial Mall State Park in Nashville, TN • Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, TN • Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN • Rippy‘s Smokin‘ Bar & Grill in Nashville, TN • National Civil Right Museum in Memphis, TN • Graceland in Memphis, TN • Rum Boogie Cafe in Memphis, TN • Mud Island River Memphis, TN
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma • Oklahoma City National Memorial in Oklahoma
Santa Fe, NM•
ABout About Tour in Santa Fe, NM • Blue Corn Cafe & Brewery in Santa Fe, NM • Longevity Cafe in Santa Fe • Souper Salad in Santa Fe, New Mexico • Petroglyph National Monumentin Albuquerque, New Mexico
Petrified Forest National Forestin Arizona • Slide Rock State Park in Sedona, Arizona • Sedona, Arizona
Taste of Thai a San Diego restaurant • Handlery Hotel in San Diego, CA • Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles, CA • Kan Zam restaurant in San Francisco, CA • Polker Gourmet Burgers in San Francisco • Holiday Inn Express in San Francisco, CA • Las Margaritas in San Francisco, CA • Hanzell Vineyards in Sonoma, CA • Beringer Vineyards in Napa Valley, CA • The Coffee Gardenin Sonoma, CA • Yosemite National Park
Antelope Island State Park in Salt Lake City, Utah • Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah
Yellowstone National Park
Mount Rushmore in South Dakota • Badlands in South Dakota
Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada
Montreal Holocaust Museum in Canada
Recommended:
Yes
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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