The best museums Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean

The Musée ilnu de Mashteuiatsh - completely renovated in 2018 - offers unique contact with the history and culture of the Pekuakamiulnuatsh, the Ilnus of Lac-Saint-Jean. Browse through exhibits showcasing the material culture and contemporary Aboriginal arts of Quebec's First Nations. You'll be guided through a history rich in knowledge and tradition. The museum has three exhibition halls, an outdoor site and a multimedia projection room. Its outdoor site, Nuhtshimitsh, in the forest, is a lovely trail focusing on the territory's flora. Here, the inseparable links between the boreal forest territory and Aboriginal peoples are highlighted, touching on themes as varied as shelter, food, transportation and health care. Interpretation panels punctuate the trail and complete the experience. Open year-round, the museum offers a bi-annual program of activities, from May to October and November to April. The program includes outdoor activities, encounters with Aboriginal artists and craftspeople, contemporary Aboriginal films and lectures on Aboriginal culture. The new permanent exhibition Tshilanu Ilnuatsh was inaugurated in 2020. Before leaving the premises, take a tour of the boutique, devoted entirely to the history, literature, crafts and arts of Quebec's First Nations.

If you have a bit of time, take a tour at the Nature Museum of Agnès Villeneuve, where you can find a bric of curiosités curiosities in the midst of beautiful naturalized specimens of local wildlife.