New Iceland Heritage Museum, Maritime museum in Gimli, Manitoba, Canada
The New Iceland Heritage Museum is a maritime museum in Gimli, Manitoba, that holds over 3,500 artifacts spread across three locations: the Waterfront Centre, Lake Winnipeg Visitors Centre, and Gimli Public School. The collection features interactive exhibits with reconstructed structures including a full-size traditional tent and pioneer cabin.
The museum documents the founding of the New Iceland colony between 1875 and 1881 along the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. This period marks when Icelandic emigrants settled in the region and built their communities from scratch.
The exhibits show objects donated by local families that reveal how Icelandic settlers lived and worked in Manitoba. You can see their handcrafted items, clothing, and household goods that tell stories of daily life during the settlement period.
You can start your visit with a ten-minute film and then explore the various locations, each showing different aspects of the collection. It helps to allow enough time to visit all three sites and experience the interactive elements at each.
The Lake Winnipeg Visitors Centre houses a large aquarium with fish species from the lake, placed alongside historical fishing tools and materials. This connection between lake life and local history shows how fishing shaped the lives of early settlers in the area.
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