The Mary March Regional Museum is one of five provincial museums in Newfoundland and Labrador. It represents the largest region in the province. The museum is located in the center of Grand Falls-Windsor on St. Catherine Street close to our school. The museum originally opened in 1977 under the name Mary March Museum/National Exhibition Centre, and a board of directors operated it. The board could not financially support the museum and it closed in 1982. In 1984, the provincial government took responsibility for the museum and they reopened it as the Mary March Regional Museum in 1988. But, do you know how the Mary March Regional Museum got its name?
Mary March was a Beothuk Indian. Her Beothuk name was Demasduit. When she was captured by English people in 1819 they gave her the English name Mary, and March for the month that she was captured in. The museum is called the Mary March Regional Museum to remember her and her people. Maybe some day, they will change the name of the museum to the name she was born with, "The Demasduit Regional Museum." That would really help us to remember who she really was!
Six people work there, including my mom, and they will help you when you take part in any of the museum programs. Everyone can visit the museum. It is open every day from May to October. All the children and school programs at the museum are free, but adults have to pay $2.50 to get into the museum. However, they don't have to pay to get out!
At the museum you can take a guided tour, and see Indian things, rocks, fossils, animals, tepees, and saws. You can go with your class and make stuff like fossils, Inukshuks, candles, and flowers. Visiting the museum is fun, because there is a lot of stuff to see, and things you can make. You can even watch a video. When we visited the museum to make our fossils, we watched a great video about dinosaurs.
Megan Wells ( 2002-2003 )