In Yellowknife, a taxidermy monument captures the diversity of the Arctic’s wildlife

Canada is a coast-to-coast mosaic of distinctly regional cultures, customs, topographies and traditions. For proof of this, one need look no further than the country’s hyper-local, teeny tiny museums.

Prince Edward Island, for instance, has the Canadian Potato Museum in O’Leary, reflecting the island’s affinity for spud cultivation. The Prairieview Elevator Museum, in Plum Coulee, Man., is a testament to that province’s history of grain production.

And in Stratford, Ont., a corner of the Stratford Perth Museum is now permanently dedicated to the city’s most famous export: Justin Bieber.

In Yellowknife, meanwhile, a small team of dedicated artisans at the Nature’s North Wildlife Gallery is creating a taxidermy monument that highlights the country’s remarkably diverse Arctic animal population.

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“The whole point of this is to tell stories about how these animals interact with their environment, and interact with each other,” says Greg Robertson, who, along with his brother, Dean, opened the gallery earlier this year. “They’re affectionate, they have emotions.”

Indeed, the Robertsons’ unique style of taxidermy leans more toward artistry than diorama. They’re both self-taught, and the brothers – along with apprentice Verca Slaba and novice taxidermist Jessie Olson – position various species, from small foxes and martens to massive polar bears and flocks of bison, in life-like poses that evoke the action, drama and emotion of Canada’s wild North.

Think a kit with a fresh kill in its mouth, or a pair of bobcats permanently locked in play. (There’s humour, too: Dean is excited about a new piece that depicts a male fox lifting his hind limb, urinating a stream of hardened resin on a nearby rock.)

“The end goal of taxidermy is trying to get something to look as realistic as possible,” Dean says. “You can’t recreate life – getting it 100-per-cent accurate isn’t possible. But the fun part is trying.”

And while the Nature’s North crew’s affinity for lifelike animal replicas inspires awe in visitors (in separate calls, both Robertson brothers and Olson sounded out the oohs and ahhs they hear from museum patrons), for Olson, a former veterinary technician currently completing her master’s in caribou viruses, taxidermy has significance beyond the wow-factor.

Forms of historical taxidermy and animal preservation have given modern-day scientists some insight as to how animal species and skeletons have evolved over time.

And in Canada’s North, where the animals on display at Nature’s North are particularly vulnerable owing to a rapidly changing climate, taxidermal animals could become important documentations of species that are critically endangered, or worse.

“I think, if you know what kinds of animals live in a place, you may want to help protect that ecosystem,” Olson says. “I think this inspires people, hopefully, and maybe it will promote a sense of conservation.”

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Canada is full of hidden museum gems. Tell us about your favourites for a coming article in the Globe. Send us an e-mail at: lpingue@globeandmail.com

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