The Cooks
Creek Heritage Museum is a museum of those early pioneers,
from Ukraine, Poland, as well as from other Eastern European
Slavic countries (the region of Eastern Europe known as Galicia),
who had settled in the Cooks Creek area of Manitoba at the turn
of the last century. The museum is located in the village
of Cooks Creek on Highway 212 and Sapton Road, just 3 miles
east of the east gate of Bird's Hill Provincial Park or just
1 mile north of the Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Greek Catholic
Church and Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes.The Cooks Creek Museum is housed in the former
rectory of the St. Michael's Roman Catholic Polish Church, a building
which was constructed in 1937 by the Hudson's Bay Company.
Subsequently, the museum was founded by a priest of the St. Michael's
Parish, Father Alois Krivanek who realized the need to save the
treasures of the Galician peoples that had settled in the region.
In the early 1070s, a new rectory was built and the old rectory
thus became the Cooks Creek Heritage Museum.
Many of the artifacts displayed at the museum
are items which were brought over from the old country while others
were acquired as the pioneers established themselves in their
new homeland. Traditional Slavic clothing, folk art, musical
instruments, and religious articles may be seen at the museum. Additionally,
farm tools, machinery, and a variety of household items may be seen
at the museum as well.
Two authentic pioneer homes are located on the museum grounds;
such homes reflect the lives of the early pioneers. Moreover, a
pole barn, a blacksmith shop barn, a candle house and Manitoba's
smallest chapel are among the heritage buildings onsite at the museum.
Pioneers, such as those who had settled in the Cooks Creek area, worked very hard to establish themselves in Canada and have made an inestimable contribution to this nation; they deserve to be remembered! Therefore, the Cooks Creek Heritage Museum's mandate is to save and to share this significant aspect of Canadian history, while it is also a memorial to the pioneers of our past. A visit to the Cooks Creek Heritage Museum would certainly be worthwhile! Guided, informative tours of the main museum building, the heritage buildings, as well as the neighboring St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church allow visitors a glimpse into a bygone era. The museum is open mid-May to late August
during the summer. The hours of operation are 10:00 a.m. - 6:00
p.m. daily, while the museum is closed on Wednesdays. Admission
is $3.00 per person, $2.00 each for seniors or youth and
children under five years of age are FREE!
The museum holds two
very important events each summer, the Barn Dance and Heritage
Day! The Barn Dance is held in June in the restored 1909 barn
onsite at the museum. This event features a live old-time country
band, dancing and plenty of sitting room for those who wish to just
sit back and enjoy the music. Tickets are $10.00 each and includes
a lite lunch. Refreshments will be for sale and a silent auction will
be held as well. Heritage Day is a celebration of the local
heritage, and is also a commemoration to Canada as a multi-cultural
nation. It takes place in August and is a lively and entertaining
day of festivities featuring Eastern European/Canadian music
and dance, country and folk music, delicious traditional foods,
pioneer demonstrations, children's activities and much more! The
main museum building as well as the heritage buildings located on
the museum grounds will be open for touring on Heritage Day.
For more information regarding the museum, the Barn Dance, or Heritage Day, contact the museum at 1-204-444-4448, email: cchm@mb.sympatico.ca, Fax: 204-444-4224 or by mail at Group 2, Box 6, R.R.#2, Dugald, MB. We hope to see you soon at the Cooks Creek Heritage Museum. "Without the memories of the past,
there can be no dreams of greatness for the future"
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