Churchill, Manitoba Museum and Dog Mushing

Our fourth day of the trip included a trip to the Parks Canada Museum which is housed in the remodeled train station. 

There are a lot of interesting displays in the museum, including quite a few of the local animals.

This display of a polar bear den looked very much like the real one we saw except this one had a polar bear in it!

Caribou travel through this part of Canada, however they have a large area they cover. So, some years there are lots of them, and some years they travel a different route. Caribou and reindeer are the same animal, just depends on what part of the world you are in as to what they are called.

As you can imagine, there were several displays about polar bears.

We did not see any live snow foxes in Churchill; that would have been a bonus. There were fur pelts of some of the animals found in Churchill available to touch at the museum. The fox fur is so soft!

We were treated to a very interesting presentation by a Parks Canada representative. He taught us about how this area was discovered, and the history of the Hudson Bay Company. It was founded in 1670 and is still in business today. The company started as a fur trading business, but has found a way to reinvent itself many times. They no longer sell furs, but they still sell their famous wool blankets.

That evening we were taken to the home and kennels of dog musher, David Daley. He is quite famous in this part of the world as a dog musher, advocate for the dogs and dog sled racing, and a representative of his native people, the Metis. He was very passionate about all of these subjects, and it was super interesting to listen to him.

He is the founder of the Churchill to Winnipeg race as well as the Hudson Bay Quest race. He runs the tours to feed his dogs, as he says. During Covid, many dog mushers could not afford to feed their dogs. Dave rescued about 50 dogs during that time. Since then, he is not breeding the dogs, just taking care of the ones he already has. 

We were treated to a fun ride on his summer sled on wheels. The dogs were so excited to get to work.

During Covid, he and his family (including some of his employees) were out of work. As they had time on their hands, he taught them how to trap and they built this log cabin outhouse, complete with a woodburning stove. He joked it was the most luxurious outhouse in Canada.

Another fun and interesting day in Churchill. Tomorrow we have one more adventure before we head back to Winnipeg.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!