The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum is closed to the public but open to Bowdoin faculty, staff and students by appointment.
Inspired by the full-sized Nunatsiavut kayak given to the College in 1891 and on display in the museum gallery for over 50 years, this exhibit explores making and using traditional kayaks from Greenland, Labrador, and beyond. It features over 20 model kayaks and umiaks, as well as associated equipment, historic film and photographs, and the centerpiece of the exhibit, a full size replica of the 1891 Kajak created for this exhibit.
Spring in the Arctic is a magical time of year, bringing both joy and challenges. In this unusual spring, we turn to historic images from our collection to celebrate the beauty of the changing seasons, the hope that comes with the return of the sun.
Women across the north have always created beautiful clothing, footwear, bags, and other objects for their families. In the past they decorated their work with dyed bird and porcupine quills, contrasting colors of hide and fur, and beads carved from stone, bone, ivory, and shell, creating pleasing patterns that also often had important symbolic meaning.
Flowers bloom profusely in the brief summers of the high Arctic, thriving in the 24-hour daylight despite low temperatures, little water, strong winds, and little or no soil. Growing low to the ground, tiny blossoms can be found scattered on otherwise bare ground or growing in dense mats. They bloom almost as soon as the snow begins to melt and continue through the short summer.
On the 100th anniversary of his death, we look at the life of Minik Wallace.
This exhibit presents a selection of Donald B. MacMillan’s gorgeous hand-tinted glass lantern slides, recently digitized with support from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
![Donald B. MacMillan, Grand Falls [Patshetshuna, Chuchill Falls] of Labrador [Nitassinan] [Prior to Construction of Churchill Falls Generating Station], Mista-Shipu (Churchill River), Nitassinan (Labrador), Canada, probably 1931. Hand-tinted glass lantern slide. Gift of Donald and Miriam MacMillan.](news/img/3000.32.186.jpg)
