Story time gets wild at the museum

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This article was published 04/03/2024 (661 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Brandon General Museum and Archives was the place to be to learn more about nature and hear some interesting stories on Saturday, as the Western Manitoba Regional Library partnered with the museum to bring a truly wild story time to life.

Robin Stewart from the library joined museum staff at the museum’s BJ Hales Natural History Gallery to read stories to children and their families, make crafts and show off the museum’s new interactive animal exhibit.

Keith Waterfield, the administrator of the museum, thought the story time would be an ideal way to show off the museum’s latest new technology.

“We thought it was an excellent opportunity to sort of promote these new tablets and interactive displays that we have for the animals,” he said.

The exhibit is a treasure trove of historic taxidermy, from an intimidating cougar that was once spotted roaming the streets of Brandon in the early 1900s to a massive polar bear. It came about after B. J. Hales acquired George Atkinson’s taxidermy collection in 1913. Atkinson was a naturalist and taxidermist from Portage la Prairie, and his collection still makes up a large part of the BJ Hales Museum of Natural History today, the museum’s website said.

In 1964, and again in 2008, Brandon University took over the collection. Now, part of that collection is featured at the Brandon General Museum and Archives at Unit 101 at 19 Ninth Street. The entire collection — including what is not on display at the museum — is made up of around 800 specimens, including birds and mammals found throughout Manitoba.

The new tablets that go along with the gallery, which allow people to hear what noises the animals make — from a mountain lion’s yowl to a coyote’s howl to a polar bear’s roar — and tell them more about each animal. It all makes the setting an ideal place for a story time that’s focused on Manitoba’s animals, Stewart said.

“We can’t ask for a better place. When you’re reading books about animals, you have the chance to look at the animals.”

The tablets make for a wonderful addition to the exhibit, Stewart added.

“I’m really excited about the new tablet project, where you get to read more about the animals and listen to what they sound like. It’s pretty cool,” she said.

“The next thing we’ll do is catalog all the birds,” Waterfield said. “Our summer student is getting all the data and information and research for the animals, and is gathering images for that next project.”

When that’s completed, the tablets will also feature information on the gallery’s extensive bird collection, which includes diminutive humming birds and their tiny nest and a large American white pelican that hangs from the ceiling, suspended in flight.

Liam Lane, the student who has been working hard on the exhibit, has previously worked at the Museum of Antiquities in Saskatoon, Sask.

“It’s something that really interests me, especially because I’ve worked on and off at this museum for five years now,” Lane said. “I’ve done a lot of tours and seen a lot of kids through here … so it kind of happened that I was given the chance to do something that makes it a bit be easier and more engaging for a lot of kids.”

The books Stewart read at the story time all featured Manitoba’s wildlife, including “Sweetest Kulu” by Celina Kalluk and illustrated by Alexandria Neonakis, “I am Polar Bear” by J. Patrick Lewas and Miriam Nerlove, “Fox on the Ice” by Tomson Highway and Brian Deines.

Stewart hopes to have more story times at the museum and other places around Brandon, she said.

“We like to meet people where they’re at, so we’re huge on community outreach story times.”

It was also Stewart’s first time checking out the BJ Hales Natural History Gallery, which she found quite impressive, she said.

“It’s [also] a chance to bring in some people maybe who haven’t been to the museum before to check out the cool animals.”

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