The Provincial Museum and Archives building commands a magnificent view of the once-important fur trade route, the North Saskatchewan River, and the surrounding parklands. Museums were simultaneously temples, palaces, treasuries and tombs—buildings filled with echoes of ancient ceremonial practices of accumulation and display. The Museum hopes to increase understanding of the diverse cultures that make up Canada and the wider world. Perhaps the most immediate clue to be found on paper maps about the place assigned Native Canadian history is the distance that separates it from the presentation of Euro-Canadian history and culture. While the placement of each on current national maps is similar—located in urban centers or capitals that are products of colonial expansion—the CMC aligns itself not with church or state, but with the land itself. The CMC's souvenir booklet promises that "there are secrets to be discovered by those who venture through the mask-like entrance to the Glacier Wing".