MEMBER LOGIN
It's that time of year again - we are accepting entries for the British Columbia Historical Federation Historical Writing Awards!
Entries are being accepted for books that were published in 2024, which are on a topic of British Columbia History.
View our Awards Page for more information and to complete the online entry form. Applicants will submit three copies of the publication to PO Box 448, Fort Langley, BC, V1M 2R7 where they will be forwarded to our judges.
Awards will be presented at the 2025 BCHF Annual Conference Awards Banquet held in Williams Lake on Saturday, May 3.
APPLY ONLINE
The Vancouver Maritime Museum is embarking on a significant revitalization of its St. Roch Gallery, set to offer a more immersive and inclusive experience beginning in August 2025.
The gallery, which showcases the legendary vessel that was the first to navigate the Northwest Passage from west to east, will undergo its most extensive update since its original unveiling in 1974. This project aims to bring new life to the stories of St. Roch’s Arctic expeditions, incorporating Indigenous perspectives and modern technology to enhance visitors’ understanding of these historic journeys.
The updated exhibit will feature multimedia presentations, additional artifacts, and sound and light installations that will provide deeper insight into the crew’s experiences and the significant contributions of Inuit guides like Panikpakuttuk. The museum is collaborating with Inuit artists and historians Maarta Kyak and Deborah Kigjugalik Webster to ensure these narratives are authentic and respected.
“The story of the St. Roch and the crew, including Inuit and their stories, is an intriguing part of Arctic history that needs to be told more fully. After months of the team working on this interpretive plan and schematic design, it was presented to us. I was so moved to tears,” shares Kigjugalik Webster in a statement. “It really touched my heart to realize that visitors will soon be able to learn the full story of the St. Roch through an Inuit lens. I’m very happy that the Vancouver Maritime Museum is moving forward. In this time of reconciliation, it’s very important to share all of our history and in a way that was not done before.”
The full revitalization is expected to be complete by May 2026.
See the full article here.
Image: Stanley Hunt and partner Lavina Hunt stand next to the newly-installed monument in the Canadian Museum of History. COURTESY CANADIAN MUSEUM OF HISTORY/MARIE-ANDRÉE BLAIS
A Kwakwaka’wakw artist’s memorial carving dedicated to those who attended residential schools ended its three-year cross-country journey from Port Hardy on Monday when it was formally unveiled as a display in the Canadian Museum of History’s permanent collection.
Indian Residential School Memorial Monument, a stark black-and-orange pillar covered with 130 individually hand-carved unsmiling faces created by master carver Stanley Hunt, was inaugurated in front of a crowd of around 900 people that included Canada’s chief of defence staff Gen. Jennie Carignan.
About 50 Kwakiutl community members travelled from Fort Rupert (T’sakis) to usher in the monument’s next chapter, at the museum in Gatineau, Que., across the Ottawa River from Ottawa.
Hunt said the delegation was met by an Algonquin Elder on Monday morning in accordance with Algonquin protocol. “We answered them with our drum and song, the songs of seeing the monument here in Ottawa for a journey all the way across the country.”
Everywhere they stopped during the journey, residential-school survivors came to see the carving, he said.
The 18-foot-tall, four-feet-wide carving topped by a raven features an inverted cross, as well as an upside-down maple leaf and abbreviations for the RCMP and the North-West Mounted Police.
Read the full article here.
Canada’s oldest Chinatown now has a permanent space to tell its story.
What was intended as a temporary exhibit in Victoria’s Fan Tan Alley will now be made permanent, and be named the Victoria Chinatown Museum.
The Victoria Chinatown Museum Society is now seeking provincial and federal funding so it can expand the facility and share Chinese Canadian history and stories with visitors from B.C. and around the world.
“We believe our history is important and now having her honour be our honourary patron means that everyone will understand the importance of Chinese Canadian history as Canadian history,” society chair Grace Wong Sneddon said.
The museum first opened in 2021 and has hosted 100,000 visitors since then.
See the full article, with videos, here.
The Caetani Centre is heading straight into Culture Days by hosting several free and by-donation events that celebrate the creativity and innovation of artists, makers, and creators in the Okanagan.
”We’re pleased to be able to offer such a diversity of events showcasing different artistic and cultural mediums: a multi-media exhibition, an Okanagan-produced documentary, and the launch of a new book of powerful poetry,” says Laisha Rosnau, Caetani Centre Executive Director.
“We invite he community to join us for one or all of these events. Sveva Caetani was a champion of the role of arts and culture in the life of a community, and we believe she’d be happy her former home is now host to such a variety of cultural experiences.”
Starting Sept. 27, the Centre will once again waive the fee for self-guided tours and offer them by donation inside the historic home of Italian duke Leone Caetani, his partner Ofelia Fabiani and their daughter, the renowned artist Sveva Caetani.
Visitors can learn the fascinating story of the Caetanis and see select displays of treasured family artifacts in the 130-year-old heritage home. Self-guided tours will be offered on Fridays and Saturdays from Sept. 27 to Oct. 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. No appointment is necessary.
While at the Centre, visitors can also check out the new exhibition, Reflections on Belonging, an immersive exhibition in the Caetani Gallery, presented in collaboration with the Vernon and District Immigrant and Community Services Society (VDICSS).
Supported by the Government of Canada's Multiculturalism and Anti-Racism Program, the exhibition invites visitors to explore themes of identity, community, and belonging through dynamic storytelling, immersive art installations, and interactive experiences. Also on display is a selection of Sveva Caetani’s works from her renowned Recapitulation Series.
Reflections on Belonging is open to the general public Fridays and Saturdays from Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information about Sveva Caetani and the Caetani Centre, please visit www.caetani.org
Times They Are A’Changing is the theme of a new exhibit at the Mill Bay-Malahat Heritage Museum near Victoria.
Thanks to the local historical society, visitors can learn who invented the egg carton, the radio and how many gadgets have been replaced by the cellphone (dozens). The season runs from March to September or by appointment.
The museum, free (donations welcome) and open Sunday afternoons, comes with a docent or guide who kindly walks visitors through many historical moments, including the nearby Bamberton cement works, a one-room school (the Beatrix Potter books) and a telephone switchboard.
The museum is at the back of the church at 2851 Church Way on the Malahat Highway outside the town. Website: heritagemuseummillbay.com. Phone: 250-733-0955. A nearby market offers fresh produce and delicious ice cream.
An excerpt from the Fall 2024 issue of British Columbia History.
Many locations in Victoria, such as Fort Rodd Hill and the BC Legislature, shown here around 1910, have been suggested as Tartarian architecture. (City of Victoria Archives Item M09575)
By Stephanie Halmhofer
“Maybe the History we’ve been told is a lie!” [1] “Their true history was covered up!” [2] “Hidden History!” [3] Beyond being in the short introductory paragraph I read on the r/Tartaria subreddit page, these are phrases I hear nearly every day as an archaeologist who studies pseudoarchaeology, or archaeological conspiracy theories.
History has long been a popular subject for conspiracism—its popularity can impact how people engage with history—especially in online spaces where the line between fact and fiction can become blurred. At first glance the idea of a technologically advanced Tartarian empire whose history has been hidden from us seems like a harmless conspiracy theory, but the blurring of the line can also open the gate to some very dangerous paths.
The terms misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theory are at times used interchangeably, but there are differences between them. Misinformation refers to false information that is shared whether or not there is intention to mislead. [4] Disinformation refers to false information that is shared with the intention to mislead. [5] And conspiracy theories are beliefs that an “organization made up of individuals or groups was or is acting covertly to achieve some malevolent end.” [6] Conspiracy theories rely on three principles: nothing happens by accident, nothing is as it seems, and everything is connected. [7]
Although conspiracy theories seem to be a relatively recent phenomenon, conspiracism has been part of North American culture since at least the 1890s [8] if not earlier. [9] However, following the 9/11 attack and subsequent advent of internet forums, [10] today conspiracy theories have become “normalized, everyday ways of understanding the world that are tangible in many different manifestations of contemporary culture.” [11]
There are distinguishable styles of communication between “traditional” pseudoscientific forms of conspiracism and newer antiscientific forms, which Federico Pilati and his research partners described as “conspiracy theory” versus “conspiracy-without-theory.” [12] Pseudoscientific traditional conspiracy theories “attempt to mimic the language and methods of science” [13] to present alternative theories with the appearance of academic credibility, although they rely on cherry-picked data and logical fallacies to reassemble scientific or historical facts into those alternative theories. Pseudoscientific conspiracy theories are common in longer-form formats such as internet forums, books, and television documentaries that appeal to quests for evidence and promote discussion of the evidence. [14]
In contrast, antiscientific conspiracy theories, or conspiracies-without-theory, are popular in short-form internet spaces such as social media. Antiscientific conspiracy theories reject such scientific methods and language, favour preconceived notions and subjective beliefs, and promote trolling and antagonistic discussions. Conspiracies-without-theory are less interested in evidence and alternative narratives and instead “appeal to emotions and values” to present “emotionally charged” post-truth narratives. [15]
Social media platforms provide an environment that favours fast-paced, emotionally-charged short-form content and immediate and confrontational interactions, ideal for conspiracies-without-theory. This is not to say that someone engaged in pseudoscientific conspiracism cannot also engage in antiscientific conspiracism in their social media posts—overlap happens. But recognizing the distinctions between conspiracy theories and conspiracies-without-theories is important to finding the most effective strategies for addressing them.
History, including archaeological tellings of history, has long been a popular subject for conspiracy theories through its perceived role as a powerful legitimizer of such narratives. [16] The past is used as a construction material that adds powerful temporal depth to contemporary conspiratorial narratives. [17] Archaeology is especially useful in this regard because it is viewed by conspiracy theorists as an authoritative science in the reconstruction of the past. Thus archaeology, as an authoritative science, can provide scientific “facts” to legitimize conspiratorial narratives. [18] And where there is no archaeology to support an alternative narrative, “pseudoarchaeology and pseudohistory can be fostered and supported to fill the breach.” [19]
Tartarian adherents commonly reference “horse and buggy,” as seen in this Tiktok video screenshot about Vancouver, to suggest that even as late as the early twentieth-century the tools and technology did not exist for constructing large, intricate buildings and, therefore, those buildings were actually constructed by technologically advanced Tartarians. (Screenshot from author)
The popularity of historical conspiracy theories, sometimes also referred to as “alternative histories” or “pseudohistories,” is made obvious through countless popular books, websites, television shows on traditional cable channels and on streaming platforms, and long videos on YouTube that present an astonishing variety of alternative narratives about human history. They are, however, united by what political scientist Michael Barkun termed as “stigmatized knowledge” claims: claims that “true” history has been forgotten, superseded, ignored, rejected, and/or suppressed. [20]
In stigmatized knowledge claims, stigmatization becomes proof of truth—something must be true because it has been rejected, suppressed, et cetera. Stigmatized knowledge claims are sticky, acting like a glue that easily binds historical conspiracy theories to additional conspiratorial narratives whose adherents are already primed to view claims of stigmatization as proof of truth. [21] As religious studies scholar David G. Robertson noted, “If one believes that what we are told about the present is a lie, then it makes sense that the past would be a lie too.” [22]
The reverse can also be true—if one believes that what we are told about the past is a lie, then it makes sense that the present may also be a lie. [23] The Tartaria conspiracy theory [24] is one such example of how historical conspiracy theories blur the line between fact and fiction and open the doors to more dangerous beliefs. Though it is based on elements from older conspiracy theories like Fomenko’s New Chronology, [25] Tartaria first appeared online between 2016 and 201826 and is currently very popular in social and digital media spaces like TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube.
In its most basic sense, Tartaria is an alternative history about an ancient, technologically advanced Tartarian civilization that spread around the world from north-central Asia, constructing magnificent cities everywhere it went. Tartaria is said to have disappeared some time in the 1800s when a sudden and global cataclysm of sorts resulted in a mud flood that destroyed or covered up Tartarian cities. The reason the world has not heard about Tartaria until now is because that history has been suppressed by hiding and altering historical records and demolishing surviving Tartarian structures.
The Tartarian conspiracy theory includes elements common to nearly all historical conspiracy theories, such as the colonization of locations around the world, the possession of advanced technology (especially regarding energy storage and conduction), the suggestion that people of the time were unable to build large architecture without intervention from someone more advanced, and that an environmental cataclysm destroyed Tartarian civilization.
But what sets Tartaria apart is its intense focus on historical architecture, predominantly elaborate styles such as Neo-Classical, Beaux-Arts, and Second Empire, as well as star-shaped bastion forts.
The presence of these architectural styles around the world is said to be evidence of Tartaria’s global spread, and external basement windows that are low to the ground are considered evidence that the building was partially covered by mud during the great mud flood, leaving only the tops of the buildings visible while the rest are buried underground. Red bricks are also important to Tartaria adherents, who believe the bricks were used to store energy.
Additionally, late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century world’s fairs, which were full of elaborate but temporary structures, are argued to have been Tartarian capital cities that were “co-opted to teach a falsified history of the world.” [27] Tartaria adherents argue that the buildings were taken down not because they were always intended to be temporary, but rather because they were demolished as part of the plan to hide Tartaria. [28]
The Tartarian conspiracy theory references architecture found around the world, including in British Columbia. The Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, for example, was suggested as Tartarian architecture in the popular r/Tartaria subreddit page. (Photo courtesy of Coquitlam City Archives)
Tartaria is more than just an alternative history; it is an alternative reality in which the line between what is real and what is fake is intentionally confused. History is replaced with fantasized narratives about the past that can be used to support idealized narratives about the present. Who the Tartarians were and why Tartaria’s history has been hidden has never been clearly defined in the Tartarian conspiracy theory and that is where an opening exists to connect Tartaria to more harmful beliefs. Historical revisionism, including the use of mythologized histories, is considered by experts to be a key characteristic of the global far right, and Tartaria is no exception. [29]
On the Tartaria Britannica website, for example, one can find articles arguing far-right white nationalist Great Replacement conspiracy beliefs [30] that ancient Aryans were violently exterminated by invading Tartarians. [31] And recently far-right American media personality Stew Peters [32] released a full-length documentary film about the Tartarian empire, drawing on antisemitic conspiracy theories that wealthy elites from the Rothschild family are involved in hiding the truth about Tartaria’s history. [33]
Because of their ability to connect their adherents to additional harmful beliefs, it is important to address historical conspiracy theories when we encounter them, whether in conversation with someone or if we see them online. Finding effective methods can be challenging, but there are several excellent guidelines available, such as The Debunking Handbook, [34] that outline different strategic methods and help us identify when to employ them. [35] Debunking is the most well-known method and refers to factually correcting incorrect information after that incorrect information has been spread. Although the efficacy of debunking is variable, following the suggested method of 1) simplistically stating the fact, 2) warning once that you are going to discuss disinformation, 3) explaining how that disinformation misleads, and 4) repeating the fact can help improve its efficacy.
Debunking is useful for traditional conspiracy theories that emphasize the importance of evidence, but in the case of antiscientific conspiracies-without-theories, which are not as interested in evidence, debunking is not likely to work. Instead, experts recommend pre-bunking in most cases. Pre-bunking refers to pre-emptively refuting disinformation and conspiracism to build resistance against it. Pre-bunking explains the techniques used to manipulate an audience and promotes critical thinking to enable people to recognize conspiracist and disinformative narratives when they encounter them. When people know what to look for, disinformation and conspiracism loses its ability to deceive. [36]
Not everyone who adheres to historical conspiracism does so with harmful intent. Not all Tartarian believers, for example, subscribe to the far-right beliefs that have been connected to Tartaria. But because historical conspiracism and revisionism have a long history of being used for harmful purposes and because the possibility exists that someone drawn to historical conspiracism can become connected to more dangerous beliefs, it is important that historical conspiracy theories be addressed as they are encountered.
Repetition and patience are key; you cannot change someone’s mind overnight. It is also vitally important to have accessible, factual information that can fill the hole that pre-bunking and debunking creates. Write public articles or blog posts. Write threads or posts on social media. Create or live-stream videos so that when someone opens Instagram or TikTok they’re less likely to encounter Tartaria first and, instead, will find themselves awestruck by human history as it is. No Tartarians needed.
Endnotes 1. Tartaria Uncovered: AntiquiTech, Tesla, Mud Flood & Beyond! Reddit, accessed May 7, 2024, https://web.archive.org/web/20240507224925/https://www.reddit.com/r/Tartaria 2. Tartaria Uncovered: AntiquiTech, Tesla, Mud Flood & Beyond! 3. Tartaria Uncovered: AntiquiTech, Tesla, Mud Flood & Beyond! 4. Stephen Lewandowsky et al., The Debunking Handbook 2020, p. 4, sks.to/db2020, https://doi.org.10.17910/b7.1182. 5. Lewandowsky et al., Debunking Handbook, 4. 6. Michael Barkun, A Culture of Conspiracy: Apocalyptic Visions in Contemporary America, 2nd ed. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013), 3. 7. Barkun, Culture of Conspiracy, 3–4. 8. Joseph E. Uscinski and Joseph M. Parent, American Conspiracy Theories (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 105–29. 9. Jaron Harambam, Contemporary Conspiracy Culture: Truth and Knowledge in an Era of Epistemic Instability (London: Routledge, 2020), 8; Egil Asprem and Asbjorn Dyrendal, “Conspirituality Reconsidered: How Surprising and How New Is the Confluence of Spirituality and Conspiracy Theory?” Journal of Contemporary Religion 30, no. 3 (2015), 367–82. 10. Federico Pilati, Tommaso Venturini, Pier Luigi Sacco, and Floriana Gargiulo, “Pseudo-scientific versus Anti-scientific Online Conspiracism: A Comparison of the Flat Earth Society’s Internet Forum and Reddit,” New Media and Society, May 14, 2024, 3, http://doi.org/10.1177/14614448241252593. 11. Harambam, Contemporary Conspiracy Culture, 8. 12. Pilati et al., “Pseudo-scientific versus Anti-scientific Online Conspiracism,” 1. 13. Pilati et al., “Pseudo-scientific versus Anti-scientific Online Conspiracism,” 3. 14. Pilati et al., “Pseudo-scientific versus Anti-scientific Online Conspiracism,” 4. 15. Pilati et al., “Pseudo-scientific versus Anti-scientific Online Conspiracism,” 4. The Cambridge Dictionary defines post-truth as “relating to a situation in which people are more likely to accept an argument based on their emotions and beliefs, rather than one based on facts.” 16. James R. Lewis, “Excavating Tradition: Alternative Archaeologies as Legitimation Strategies,” Numen 59, no. 2/3 (2012): 202–21, https://www.jstor.org/stable/23244959. 17. Stephanie Halmhofer, “Manufacturing History: Atlantis, Aryans, and the Use of Pseudoarchaeology by the Far-Right,” in Conspiracy Theories and Extremism in New Times, ed. by Christopher T. Connor, Matthew N. Hannah, and Nicholas J. McMurray (Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 2024), 53-82. 18. Lewis, “Excavating Tradition.” 19. Bettina Arnold, “Pseudoarchaeology and Nationalism: Essentializing Difference,” in Archaeological Fantasies, ed. by Garrett G. Fagan (Abingdon: Routledge, 2006), 156. 20. Barkun, Culture of Conspiracy, 26 – 29 21. Halmhofer, “Manufacturing History,” 59–61. 22. David G. Robertson, UFOs, Conspiracy Theories and the New Age (New York: Bloomsbury, 2016), 16. 23. Halmhofer, “Manufacturing History,” 61. 24. For an excellent introductory explainer of the Tartaria conspiracy theory, listen to Episode 273: “The Tartarian Empire,” QAnon Anonymous (a.k.a. QAA) Podcast. The episode is available on all major music and podcast streaming services. See also Zach Mortice, “Inside the ‘Tartarian Empire,’ the QAnon of Architecture,” Bloomberg.com, April 27, 2021, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-04-27/inside-architecture-s-wildest-conspiracy-theory; and Brian Dunning, “Tartaria and the Mud Floor,” Skeptoid Podcast, February 2, 2021, https://skeptoid.com/episodes/4765. 25. Fomenko’s New Chronology argues that human history prior to the 1600s has been entirely fabricated. See the Wikipedia entry, “New Chronology (Fomenko), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_chronology_(Fomenko). 26. Mortice, “Inside the ‘Tartarian Empire.’” 27. Mortice, “Inside the ‘Tartarian Empire,’” para. 22. 28. Mortice, “Inside the ‘Tartarian Empire.’” 29. Halmhofer, “Manufacturing History,” 53-54. 30. Brian Duignan, “replacement theory,” in Encyclopaedia Brittanica Online, May 31, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/replacement-theory. 31. True Aryan History, “The Mongol Empire Never Existed,“ Tartaria Britannica, March 4, 2023, https://web.archive.org/web/20231202085845/https://tartariabritannica.com/blog/the-mongol-empire-never-existed/. 32. Kiera Butler, “The Far-Right Bounty Hunter Behind the Explosive Popularity of ‘Died Suddenly,’” Mother Jones, May–June, 2023, para. 5, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/02/stew-peters-the-far-right-bounty-hunter-behind-the-explosive-success-of-died-suddenly/. 33. Eyes on the Right, “Stew Peters Promotes Claim That the Capitol Was Built by a Race of Giants,” Angry White Men [blog], May 21, 2024, https://angrywhitemen.org/2024/05/21/stew-peters-promotes-claim-that-the-capitol-was-built-by-a-race-of-giants/. 34. Lewandosky et al., Debunking Handbook 2020. 35. Stephanie Halmhofer, “A [Semi-] Solicited Guide on Pre-bunking and Debunking,” Bones, Stones, and Books, February 2, 2024, https://bonesstonesandbooks.com/2024/02/02/a-semi-solicited-guide-on-pre-bunking-and-debunking. 36. Sander van der Linden, “Countering Misinformation through Psychological Inoculation,”in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 69, (2024): 1–58, https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.aesp.2023.11.001.
Stephanie Halmhofer grew up in Steveston. She has worked as an archaeologist in several Canadian provinces and is currently also a PhD student at the University of Alberta. The narrowed focus of her research is on Brother XII and the Aquarian Foundation through which she studies the archaeology of conspirituality and conspiritual landscapes. More broadly, her research also examines the use of pseudoarchaeology in far-right and conspiritual worldviews.
How have Chinese Canadian stories and history been expressed through poetry? Moderated by Vancouver’s current Poet Laureate, Fiona Tinwei Lam, and joined by award-winning spoken word artist Christopher Tse and emerging poet James X. Wang, this combined poetry performance and panel discussion will explore how Chinese Canadian identity, including the history around the Chinese Exclusion Act era, has been upheld through contemporary works of poetry.
Watch the full video here.
Our province is teeming with history, but many of us haven’t had the chance to visit the various heritage sites spread out across British Columbia because, well, let’s face it, our province is pretty big. While plenty of museums and exhibits can be found in our bigger metropolitan areas, there is so much more to discover once you get away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities.
To discover some of lesser-visited spots, BC Living has compiled a list of a few key places you should check out on a cultural road trip, with stops in New Denver, Revelstoke, Wells, Prince George, and Prince Rupert. Each area pays homage to the key industries that shaped us as a province—just think logging, mining, and even fishing!
Check it out here.
As Ken Blackburn steps away from 19 years at the Museum at Campbell River, he took the time to reflect on its transformation from a dusty archive to a highly respected institution that is a key player in not only the cultural life of the community but also its economy.
Blackburn came onboard with the museum as it, like many others across the country, was stepping into a central role in incorporating heritage and culture into the economy and identifying the added value of culture and cultural institutions as partners in prosperity.
It has now established itself as a major player and that will serve Campbell River well in the coming years, said Blackburn the now-retired Programs Manager for the Museum at Campbell River.
British Columbia Historical FederationPO Box 448, Fort Langley, BC, Canada, V1M 2R7Information: info@bchistory.ca
The Secretariat of the BCHF is located on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish speaking Peoples.
Follow us on Facebook.