A story looking at how coal fields in Port Rupert and Nanaimo were first cared for and worked by Indigenous miners has won the BC Historical Federation’s Anne and Philip Yandle Best Article Award.

“The Indigenous Miners of British Columbia’s First Coal Fields,” by John Sutton Lutz (pictured), appeared in the Winter 2023 issue of British Columbia History magazine. It was chosen by a panel of judges from among two dozen eligible articles published in the magazine last year.

One judge called the article “thought-provoking, intriguing, original, and innovative. It presents newly discovered, never-before-published ethnographic and archival material that shines a new light on Indigenous-colonial relations … Lutz portrays Indigenous peoples as having been powerful players in BC’s settler economy, who successfully exercised their rights and asserted their title to their traditional land/territory and resources.”

Another judge said the article “provides a fresh, well-researched and timely look at long-standing historical storylines and injects a new dose of reality and cultural recognition into the mix” while leaving the reader “questioning the lens through which we typically view early resource extraction narratives.”

The award was announced Saturday during the federation’s awards gala in Chilliwack and comes with $250 and a certificate.

“British Columbia History is a remarkable publication that brings the most interesting stories from our past to a wide audience,” Lutz said. “The diversity and quality of the stories and the care in editing is truly impressive. I really appreciate the honour of this award.”

Lutz is a professor of history at the University of Victoria. He is the author of Makuk: A New History of Aboriginal-White Relations, co-editor of the collection Towards a New Ethnohistory: Community Engaged Scholarship Among the People of the River, and co-editor of To Share Not Surrender: Indigenous and Settler Visions of Treaty Making in the Colonies of Vancouver Island and British Columbia. His current research focuses on the impact of smallpox on the Indigenous People of the Pacific Northwest.

Philip Yandle was the founder, editor, publisher, printer, binder, and distributor of the BC Historical News from 1968 to 1977. His wife Anne Yandle was also very active in BC Historical News for almost 40 years and served as the book reviews editor until the year in which she died. In 2007, the British Columbia Historical Federation renamed its Best Article Award Award in honour of Anne and Philip Yandle.