Blog & News

Naomi Miller, an honorary lifetime member of the BC Historical Federation, has died at 98.

Miller was the BCHF's president in 1986-87 and honorary president in 2005-06. She was editor of the British Columbia Historical News (now BC History) from 1988-98. Under her guidance, the magazine doubled its page count.

She wrote Fort Steele: Gold Rush to Boom Town and co-edited The Forgotten Side of the Border with Wayne Norton. She also wrote for the BC History of Nursing newsletter, and was a history columnist for the Tri-Village Buzz.

Miller received honorary life memberships from the BC History of Nursing Society, the Friends of Fort Steele Society, and the Kootenay Lake Historical Society. She also received an award of merit from the BC Museums Association for helping to develop the Golden Museum, and was presented with the BC Heritage Award in 1999. She donated the $10,000 prize to the SS Moyie in Kaslo, where she grew up.

Miller died on Feb. 15. Her full obituary can be found here and a longer biography by Nowell Berg can be found here.

Contractor Dave Madden, Slocan Valley Historical Society director Lynnda Moore and society president Joyce Johnson.

Seven years after acquiring a last-of-its kind Japanese-Canadian fishing boat, the Slocan Valley Historical Society has announced construction of the vessel’s shelter is underway.

“After many unexpected delays, we have finally broken ground on the next step in this project,” says president Joyce Johnson.

“The Merriwake has been restored to the condition she was in when she was confiscated during World War II. We are excited to display the boat and share her history, as well as tell part of the internment story.”

Located at Main Street and Fitz Avenue in the Village of Slocan, the display will be accessible and free to all.

The original design for the shelter came from internationally renowned architect Gene Kinoshita, whose family was interned in Slocan. Nelson Rocha of Studio 9 Architecture + Planning Ltd produced the current plans and will oversee the build. Rossland engineer Alison MacLeod of MacLeod Nine Consultants Ltd. is responsible for structural engineering. Nakusp firm Madden Timber Construction was awarded the contract to construct the building.

Construction is anticipated to wrap up this fall.

“This project has been a labour of love for our small society and the many generous donors who have supported us,” says Johnson.

The SVHS will host an opening ceremony to celebrate this significant historical project once finished.

The Merriwake has had a long path to reaching Slocan. It is one of the oldest surviving Japanese-Canadian boats and is in excellent condition for its age. It is a 31-foot gillnetter built in 1929, probably by Matsumoto Boatworks in the Prince Rupert area.

Along with all Japanese-Canadian-owned fishing boats, this craft was impounded by authorities during World War II. It was later sold to BC Packers, and had a series of owners thereafter. Its previous owner, Ted Fitzgerald, brought the boat to Kaslo in 2011, coincidentally another of the internment camps.

The boat was restored by Eric Chevalier of the Copper Nail boatshop in Bonnington.

Architect's drawing of the Merriwake shelter.

From the Amelia Douglas Institute:

"In early 2025, 13 Métis artists participated in an MNBC Heritage Arts Mentorship with Cree-Métis artist Cynthia Boehm: this is the result.

Come to the ADI Showroom and see our exhibition of 13 new mini dog blankets created by amazing artists in our community. See photos of these blankets on some of the artists' own cats and dogs!

Métis dog blankets are a vibrant and meaningful part of Métis material culture. Originally used to decorate and protect dogs that pulled sleds and carried goods, these carefully crafted blankets tell stories of artistry, community, and connection to animals and the land.

Open April 22 to June 27, 2025. Book a visit online or drop in Tues-Thurs, 11-12."

On Saturday, May 3rd, celebrate the Grand Opening of the Lytton Chinese History Museum. Please RSVP if you plan on attending!

Beer historian and enthusiast Noëlle Phillips follows independent brewing from the City's inception in 1886 into the Prohibition years of the late 1910s, and talks about the consolidation and corporate concentration of brewing that dulled down the market until craft brewing, led by Granville Island Breweries, took off in the 1970s.

Watch the full video here.

The AGM of the British Columbia Historical Federation will be held on Friday, May 2nd at 2:15 pm at the Museum of the Cariboo-Chilcotin and the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame in Williams Lake. The AGM will also be live-streamed on Zoom for those who cannot attend in person.

• Register for the AGM here.
• View the AGM package here.
• Read the 2024-25 Annual Report here. 

The British Columbia Historical Federation is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2024 Historical Writing Awards. The awards will be announced during the awards gala taking place this year in Williams Lake on May 3 at 6:30pm.  

In alphabetical order, the list is as follows:  

• Linda Ambrose, Pentecostal Preacher Woman: The Faith and Feminism of Bernice Gerard, UBC Press. 
• Chris Arnett, Signs of the Time: Nłeʔkepmx Resistance through Rock Art, UBC Press.  
• Blair Mirau, The City of Rainbows: A Colourful History of Prince Rupert, Heritage House.  
• Noëlle Phillips, Brewmasters and Brewery Creek, Touchwood Editions.  
• Chad Soon and George Chiang, The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockey, Orca Book Publishers.  
• Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson and Robert Davidson, A Haida Wedding, Heritage House.  

The BC Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing will be awarded together with $2,500 to the author whose book makes the most significant contribution to the historical literature of British Columbia. The second-place winner will receive $1,500 and third place, $500. One book will also be awarded the Community History Award, worth $500. Certificates of Honourable Mention may be awarded to other books as recommended by the judges.   

The 2024 competition received 24 publications, all of which add to the compendium of historical writing in British Columbia. 

Eminent rail-transit historian Henry Ewert describes a golden age of interurban train travel in the Vancouver area, focusing on the line that traversed Lulu Island's farms and racetracks and connected Steveston and its canneries with Marpole in South Vancouver, and from there into downtown Vancouver, from 1905 till the final closure in 1958.

Watch the full video here.

Ryan Hunt to Take the Helm of Vancouver’s Oldest Cultural Organization

The Vancouver Museum Society’s Board of Directors is happy to announce that Ryan Hunt has been selected as the new CEO of Vancouver’s oldest cultural institution, the Museum of Vancouver (MOV).

Following Mauro Vescera’s retirement at the end of 2024, the MOV underwent an extensive search to find a new CEO. Ryan Hunt was selected from a wide range of candidates. Ryan has worked in GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) sector roles in Ontario, Korea, and his home province of BC, including at the London Arts/Heritage Council, Oil History Museum of Canada, the Local Government Management Association of BC, and as the Co-Founder of Canada’s first mobile makerspace, the MakerBus.

Since 2019 Ryan has worked as the Executive Director of the BC Museums Association (BCMA). Notable achievements include:

• supporting more than 50 First Nations communities access repatriation funding through the 2020 Repatriation Grant program; 
• partnering with the BC Heritage Emergency Response Network on emergency response training for museums and heritage sites across BC; 
• and contributing to having the BCMA named Charity Village’s Best Not-for-Profit Employer for Workplace Mental Health (Under 20 staff) in 2023.

“I am thrilled to have Ryan Hunt as our incoming CEO,” the MOV’s Board Chair, Bruce Granville Miller says. “He has a deep knowledge of the museum sector from his time as executive director of the BC Museums Association. Ryan is noted for his energetic and collaborative approach to management and has valuable experience with all levels of government and First Nations.”

Ryan steps in at an exciting time. After months of HVAC work forcing the feature exhibition wing to close, the MOV will be launching three exhibitions in June, including The Work of Repair: Redress & Repatriation at MOV. Plus, with plans for community consultations to renew the permanent galleries—and the first phase of the Sen̓áḵw development due to be complete at the end of 2025, the time is ripe for transformation and new beginnings.

“I’m eager to connect with the Museum’s partners and meet new ones,” incoming CEO Ryan Hunt says. “I look forward to supporting impactful collaborations with neighbouring arts and culture organizations to benefit our community.”

Ryan Hunt will officially commence his role as the Museum of Vancouver’s CEO on May 1, 2025. 

Taken more than 100 years ago, the Whalers Washing House is finally coming home.

Twenty-five members of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation (MMFN) are heading to New York on March 25 to repatriate what may be the largest treasure of a First Nation ever taken to the United States. The American Museum of Natural History is finally relinquishing the unique Whalers Washing House, consisting of four wooden whales, 88 carved figures, and 16 ancestral remains.

The shrine, originally located on an island on Jewett Lake at Yuquot (colonial, Friendly Cove), was where the families of whalers went to conduct purification rituals in preparation for the whale hunt.

Read the full article here.