Canadian Museum of History (https://www.historymuseum.ca/)
100 Rue Laurier, Gatineau, $27 admission (+ parking)
Friday – Wednesday 9:00-17:00; Thursday 9:00 – 19:00
This is the largest history museum in the Ottawa area, even though it’s technically on the Quebec side of the river. It has the largest footprint, the largest budget, and the largest display collection. The first floor is dedicated to First Nations, the second floor is reception, an auditorium, and a children’s museum, and the third and fourth floors are dedicated to Canadian history, with the third floor being for early and colonial Canada, and the fourth for the modern country.
I spent a little over two hours there and didn’t really have time to view everything properly. It’s pricy, but there is a lot there for someone interested in Canadian history. Because there is so much there, and there is a children’s museum attached, this museum presents a quandary for parents of young children. The main museum isn’t that interesting for wains, but the children’s museum wouldn’t really be a cost-effective activity for parents. I’m glad that I went there alone, without a bored child nipping at my heels.
There was a lot to see, and I don’t think that I was quite ready for the sheer quantity of what was on display. Looking at the first floor, the number and beauty of the wooden masks for the Pacific nations impressed me as one of the first things that I saw when I wandered the building. Additionally on the first floor was the famed main gallery, like a giant cathedral open to the sunlight. There were also retellings of traditional Indigenous narratives to help put some of the physical artefacts into a proper context. There was even a round chamber where a film was playing, explaining different aspects of Anishinaabe or Iroquoian culture, and the entrance was a short spiral, just like what would be the entrance to a boreal village. The amount of effort and respect given to the Indigenous quadrant of the museum was what impressed me the most. The colonial history was fine, but the Indigenous sector was something particularly special.
This museum is probably the best history museum in Canada, east of the Royal Ontario. Its focus is on Canadian history, so the only glimpse you would see of Ancient Egypt or the Ming Dynasty would be if there were a temporary exhibit.
The only two strikes against this as a destination are the price, which is prohibitive, and the lighting. Most museums are brightly lit so that the guest can see everything. I started my tour with the Pacific Indigenous section, and I had thought that the reason the exhibits were so dark was because they were trying to give the impression of what it would have been like in the wood houses of the Coastal Salish or other Pacific peoples… but it never got better. Beyond the Indigenous sections and early and colonial Canada, the lighting was the same. If you’re travelling with someone who has any issues related to their vision, they would probably not be able to appreciate everything here.
Overall, I had a great time, and I’d bring guests visiting Ottawa to see this museum, as it is full of cultural and social artefacts from across Canada. I can’t see myself returning very often though.
