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From the Chinese Canadian Museum:
As The Paper Trail to 1923 Exclusion Act exhibition draws to a close, Elwin Xie, Chinese Canadian Museum tour guide and interpreter, will share what he has learned while further researching his family.
Join us for an evening with our knowledgeable and illustrious Museum Interpreter and Tour Guide Elwin Xie, as he shares his lived experience growing up in Vancouver’s Chinatown and his familial ties with the feature exhibition The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act.
Drawing on his conversations with visitors to the Chinese Canadian Museum since opening on July 1, 2023, Elwin will discuss how his encounters have helped clarify some family questions and illuminate colourful stories within the pioneer overseas Chinese community (Lo Wah Kiu 佬華僑) in Saltwater City 鹹水埠 (Vancouver) that came searching for their mythological Gold Mountain (Gum San 金山).
Date: Thursday, November 21, 2024
Location: Chinese Canadian Museum (51 E Pender St.)
Time: 6:30-8:30 P.M.
Cost: $5/annual pass holder; $8/general admission visitor; free for youth, student, and senior annual pass holders *GST not included
Register: Registration link here
On Oct. 29, 1924, a train explosion between Grand Forks and Castlegar claimed the lives of Doukhobor leader Peter V. Verigin and eight others. Whether the explosion was accidental or deliberate has never been definitively determined.
To commemorate Verigin’s life and the centennial of this tragic and history-altering event, the Union of Spiritual Communities of Christ has been hosting a monthly speaker series. For more on Verigin’s life, click here. For more on the explosion, see the Canadian Mysteries website. For more on the history of the monument erected at the site of the explosion, click here.
Artist Henry Tsang speaks on his art project and book about the 1907 riot that trashed Vancouver's Chinatown and damaged the Powell Street Japanese community, led by members of the Asiatic Exclusion League and organized labour.
Watch the full video here.
The CCA Archives Advisory Services Working Group is pleased to announce that the Reconciliation Toolkit for Non-Indigenous Archives in Canada is now available. The toolkit can be found at this link: https://archivescanada.ca/toolkit/. This Toolkit was made possible thanks to the support of the Council of Provincial and Territorial Archivists.
The Reconciliation Toolkit for Non-Indigenous Archives compliments the work of the Response to the Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Taskforce (TRC-TF) of the Steering Committee on Canada’s Archives, which is working on compiling resources to assist Indigenous communities developing their own archives. Together, these resource portals encourage members of the archival community in Canada to develop the skills and knowledge needed to make connections with their local First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities.
The information in this toolkit will support non-Indigenous archives working toward putting the Reconciliation Framework into action within their current archival management practices.
The intent of the Toolkit is to answer "where do we even begin and how do we stay on the path towards Reconciliation?” The Toolkit is intended to be a starting point to support information professionals develop new ways of understanding the Indigenous records within their holdings and develop respectful and reciprocal relationships with their Indigenous colleagues/communities.
The Archives Advisory Services Working Group will be updating the resources on this Toolkit regularly. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact aaswg@archivescanada.ca.
Okanagan Archives is excited to introduce Amanda Christmas as their new Executive Director.
From Okanagan Archives: "Amanda brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective to our organization. Her passion for history and dedication to community engagement make her a perfect fit for leading our efforts to preserve and share the rich heritage of the Okanagan Valley. With her at the helm, we are confident that Okanagan Archive will continue to grow and evolve, bringing innovative ideas and renewed energy to our projects. We look forward to the exciting developments under Amanda’s leadership and are thrilled to have her guiding us into this new chapter."
The ceremonial cutting of a rawhide ribbon on Tuesday marked the launch of a new park project to honour Chief Cexpe’nthlEm, a revered leader and peace-maker in the Lytton region.
Cexpe’nthlEm, also known as Spintlum, was the key figure who convinced his people and neighbouring First Nations to pursue a truce with American miners in conflict with Indigenous peoples during the Fraser River gold rush of 1858. This decision averted a full scale war that could have dramatically altered the course of history in what became British Columbia. Cexpe’nthlEm descendants were among those in attendance.
Ernie Michel sings beside the Spintlum memorial that will be part of a new park.
People gathered above the confluence of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers at the Splintlum memorial for a ceremony punctuated by traditional songs, prayer and speeches. Wind gusts through the canyon prompted singer Ernie Michel to remark that ancestors were in attendance too, "they’re telling us that they’re here.”
The park project has been a dream since 2007 when the New Pathways to Gold Society began collaborating with the Lytton First Nation, the Village of Lytton and St Barnabas Anglican Parish. Over the last 17 years the Society has generated almost $8 million for projects in Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities along the corridor stretching from Hope to Barkerville. Seed money for the Chief Cexpe’nthlEm Park Project has come from the Province of British Columbia.
Councillor and former New Pathways to Gold Society board member Byron Spinks and Amy Charlie prepare to cut the rawhide ribbon.
Work will begin immediately on creating a park that will feature a new lookout, interpretive signage to share the Cexpe’nthlEm story, and landscaping for a new community gathering space. Lytton First Nation Chief Niakia Hanna told the gathering there are many different interpretations of the Spintlum legacy and that he had to fight his own people — and the miners marshalled against them.
Councillor Byron Spinks said women were behind the decision to opt for peace because going to war during the salmon season would have left people starving the following winter. Lytton mayor Denise O’Connor said the park project will, "help educate people about this important part of a shared history ... and the park will be a place for people to come together.” Work is expected to be completed in the spring of 2025.
The Spintlum Memorial sits high above a breathtaking view of the Fraser and Thompson Rivers.
Lytton First Nation Chief Niakia Hanna
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.
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.
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