Pembina State Museum

At the Pembina State Museum and observation tower, exhibits will immerse you in the history of this colorful region—a place of ox carts, Hudson’s Bay forts, bison robes, and a major fur trade hub. As trading houses, borders, languages, and people came and went, the “place of the pembina berry” has remained a site of cultural mixing.

Pembina’s vibrant context even gave rise to a new ethnicity, the Métis, who melded American Indian and European cultures. And after trading giants like the Hudson’s Bay Company and the Northwest Company left the area in the early 1800s, the Métis made the fur trade their own. Explore the lives of the Métis and the other diverse peoples who have
made this gateway of commerce between Canada and the U.S. home.

MUST SEE & DO

• Enjoy views of the Red River Valley across North Dakota, Minnesota, and Manitoba from the seven-story observation tower.
• Shop for clothing, books, gifts, and replica fur trade items in the Museum Store.
• Try on a ceinture fléchée or finger-woven sash, a traditional French-Canadian and Métis belt. These belts can be up to nine-feet long.