Winnipeg, MB: FortWhyte Alive! (7/31/2023)

Monday, July 31, 2023
Everyone could sleep in a bit this morning, then breakfast and checking out of the airport hotel. Off to FortWhyte Alive!, dedicated to providing programming, natural settings, and facilities for environmental education, outdoor recreation, and social enterprise, all to promote awareness and understanding of the natural world and actions leading to sustainable living.

Many institutions (in Canada, and even the United States) acknowledge their presence on lands that belonged to indigenous people. "FortWhyte Alive is located on Treaty 1 Territory, on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Ininiwak, Anisininiwak, Dakota, and Dene peoples, as well as the National Homeland of the Red River Métis."

Even Pete is too tall for the door of the Sod House (2001),
representative of the abodes of the early Europeans
who immigrated to the plains of Manitoba

A close-up of the layers of sod used to construct the house

A grove of Populus tremuloides/
Trembling Aspen

Cornus sericea/Red-twig Dogwood berries (KSS)

We climbed a grassy mound, only to see an IKEA
sign in the distance

Cirsium arvense/Canadian Thistle

Replica (2021) mīkiwāhp/tipi in Cree,
which was painted by Annie Beach
(Cree/Saulteaux/Ukrainian, with relations
from Peguis First Nation)

The Cree tradition used 13 poles for
raising the tipi, each representing
a teaching to follow

Stones of a medicine wheel, a teaching tool of the
Circle of Life, with four sections each representing
a direction, a medicine, a season, an animal, a teaching,
a part of the day, a stage in life, an Earth element,
and our place on Earth

Typha latifolia/Broadleaf Cattails,
which soak up nutrients that could cause
algae blooms downstream,
keeping the wetlands clear

Pete is taller than a bison cow

While Dylan is almost as tall as a bison bull

Kent is as tall as a bison cow, while 
Pete tries to be as small as a bison calf

The FortWhyte herd of Bison bison/Bison (nary a buffalo in sight!)

Canadian Pacific Bison Prairie Marker;
FortWhyte received the name due to
Canadian Pacific Railway official
William Whyte battling to take control
of the area from a rival railroad

"Honouring the residential school survivors and
recognizing the harm caused to indigenous children
and their families by the resdiential school system" (KSS)

Orange ribbons are used to honor the indigenous
children who were taken to live in the residential schools

Branta canadensis/Canada Goose:
"Yes, this is where I belong!"

Stairs to the Richardson Rrrun toboggan slide

The toboggan slide ends (lower right)
in Lake Devonian, which ideally should
be frozen for a super ride!

Richardson Interpretive Centre (1983, with a 2021
deep energy retrofit)

Prairie Soil exhibit to contrast healthy
prairie habitat vs erosive agricultural land

A diorama illustrated the two types of soil, but here we
focus on the lower left where sod is being cut for housing

The Touch Museum

Local wildlife exhibit

Cyprinus carpio/Common Carp in one of the two small
tanks of "Manitoba's largest indoor aquarium"

Thamnophis sirtalis parietalis/Red-sided Garter Snake

Replica canoe on Lake 3

Youngsters fishing in Lake 3 (KSS)

Spinus tristis/American Goldfinch (KSS)

We found the outdoor access to the
indoor honeybee hive

Michelle's Garden was part of the Pollinator Garden

Purple Martin House Complex

We had lunch at the Buffalo Stone Café at FortWhyte Alive Alloway Reception Centre.

Next: The Forks II.