Northern Lights
Permanent Exhibits
Iceland Rocks! A Fiery Saga
One third of the lava that has flowed on earth in recorded history has come from Iceland.
Discover this fiery saga at the New Iceland Heritage Museum home to the largest collection of Icelandic rocks and minerals outside of Iceland.
Don’t miss the opportunity to behold the beauty and diversity of this unique exhibit. A stunning collection of rocks and minerals, permitted for the first time to leave Iceland by the Icelandic Institute of Natural History.
The Story of New Iceland
Through the presentation of dynamic permanent exhibits, temporary and traveling exhibits, and through a variety of workshops, lectures and programs the New Iceland Heritage Museum (NIHM) strives to serve the public as a valuable community resource that meets the increasing needs of new audiences and that presents relevant topics and issues in a rapidly changing world.
Mural by John Futura
The Collage takes us on a journey from ancient Mythology of the Vikings on the extreme left side to the promise of the future on the extreme right side.
After leaving the ancient Norse God Thor, our journey takes us through the pre-emigration life in Iceland to one of the reasons many left their island homeland as represented by the volcanic eruption which, with other disasters, prevailed in the 1870s and 1880s.
In the centre is a portrait of the young Sigtryggur Jonasson who played a major role in the establishment of New Iceland and became known as the “Father of New Iceland”. In this area we can see some of the people and conditions that existed here in the 1870s.
From there we proceed through examples of industry and life in the colony of New Iceland which was established in 1875 and was absorbed into the Province of Manitoba in 1881. The influx of new cultures into New Iceland is represented by the railway which reached here in 1906.
We then see the commemoration of cultural traditions, Icelandic and others, and finally the children gathered around the rock cairn in the Gimli Park who are from various cultural backgrounds and therefore represent our future.
