This issue of the Buzz is archived here.

MEMBER NEWS

A note from the BCHF: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

As we mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we reflect on our recent conference held in Williams Lake, homelands of the Secwepemc peoples and birthplace of Orange Shirt Day.

Our keynote speaker, Phyllis Webstad, spoke about her experience as a residential school survivor and how Orange Shirt Day has grown significantly as a national movement since 2013.

We also learned about the ongoing investigation led by the Williams Lake First Nation into the disappeared and deceased Indigenous children at St. Joseph's Mission Residential School. We were provided a tour of the school grounds by Whitney Spearing, lead investigator and archaeologist for the St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School and Onward Ranch Investigation, where the powerful documentary Sugarcane was filmed.

As witnesses to the rise in residential school denialism, we were invited to participate in educating others about the truth. 

We encourage you to listen to these powerful stories and deepen your learning while we honour residential school survivors and those who never made it home: 

Sugarcane film

Phyllis Webstad's Orange Shirt Story film and work of the Orange Shirt Society

Key teachings & Events compiled by Indigenous Tourism BC

Heritage BC's Online Reconciliation Resources

Fall issue of BC History heads to the Okanagan

The fall edition of British Columbia History is on its way to your mailbox and your inbox. Ken Mather is the guest editor this time. He’s the editor of Okanagan History, the annual report of the Okanagan Historical Society.

Stories include:


 • syilx Okanagan Nation Salmon Restoration: A case history of bringing back a species on the verge of extinction, by Okanagan Nation Alliance

• BC Tree Fruits Cooperative, by Susan McIver

• The Legend of Larry Kwong and His Legions, by Chad Soon

• Okanagan Women’s Voices: sylix and settler writing and relations, 1870s-1960s, by Jeanette Armstrong, Lally Grauer, and Janet MacArthur

• The Founding of the Okanagan Historical Society, by Ken Mather

• A History of Change: From the Dominion Experimental Farm to the Summerland Research and Development Centre, by Jessie L. MacDonald

• Too Many Apples: Sun-Rype Products Ltd., by Sharron J. Simpson

• Plankster Play to Tourist Industry: Skiing the Okanagan, 1920s-1960s, by Linda Peterat

Plus our regular columnists William A. White, Mark Forsythe, and Dalys Barneys!

"Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong" Book Launch Event October 6th

You are invited to join the Vancouver Heritage Foundation as they help launch Elder Larry Grant's new book, "Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong" on October 6th.

The event will take place from 7 pm to 8:30 pm at the University Women's Club at Hycroft.

About the author:

Larry Grant was born in a hop field outside Vancouver in 1936, the son of a Musqueam cultural leader and an immigrant from a village in Guangdong, China...When Larry Talks about reconciliation, he uses the verb reconciling, an ongoing, unfinished process we're all going through, Indigenous and settler, immigrant and Canadian-born.

Larry Kwong bio shortlisted for national book award

A book about Larry Kwong, who became the NHL’s first player of Asian descent has been shortlisted for a Canadian Children’s Book Centre Award.

The Longest Shot: How Larry Kwong Changed the Face of Hockey is one of five books nominated for the Sharon Fitzhenry Award for non-fiction. The winner will be announced Oct. 27 in Toronto.

Co-author Chad Soon is a director with the BCHF and the book was previously named second runner-up this year in the BCHF’s historical writing awards.

Biography of Sandon founder to be launched Oct. 4

A local history book 20 years in the making will be launched at the Silvery Slocan Museum in New Denver on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 1 p.m.

The King of Sandon: Murder, Myth, and the Man Behind B.C.’s Greatest Ghost Town is a full-length biography of John Morgan Harris, a mining magnate with a secret past and a complicated legacy.

Local historian and journalist Greg Nesteroff traces Harris’ life from rural Virginia, where he was born into a family of slaveholders, to northern Idaho, where he risked life and liberty to make a name for himself.

Harris arrived in the Slocan in early 1892, as part a wave of prospectors lured by a silver rush, and bought a promising mining claim that turned into his bonanza. While other tycoons spent their fortunes on mansions in urban areas, Harris built an entire city in the wilderness as a monument to himself. He owned the townsite, its principal buildings, power plant, and waterworks.

He was nicknamed the King of Sandon, but his subjects didn’t always see his rule as benevolent. He was frequently in court defending his interests, and one dispute over a mining claim dragged on for years before finally reaching the Privy Council.

When Sandon’s fortunes declined as the mines in the area played out, Harris refused to leave, even as his town crumbled around him. Although new life teased occasionally, his optimism that the city would boom again was never fully justified.

During the book launch, Nesteroff will present a slideshow and explain the book’s long genesis, including his trips to Harris’ birthplace and burial site in Virginia.

“I became interested in Johnny Harris because so many myths were associated with him,” Nesteroff explains. “While some things were said about him that were false, I was surprised that some of the most unlikely things turned out to be true.”

The book lays bare Harris’ darkest secrets and also looks at how, following his death, Sandon nearly faded from existence, only to be discovered by others determined to save what was left.

The book includes 237 photos and illustrations as well as eight specially-created maps. The King of Sandon is available for pre-order on the book’s companion website, kingofsandon.com, which also contains source notes, photo galleries, interviews, and many other special features.

The book will be available in stores throughout the West Kootenay following the launch.

Nesteroff will also speak on the book at the Slocan Valley Historical Society annual general meeting on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. at the W.E. Graham school library in Slocan.

Fall 2025 Heritage Hour Lectures with Vancouver Heritage Foundation

Vancouver Heritage Foundation's Heritage Hour Lectures are back and the registration is now open for three fall sessions: Heritage Hour - Vancouver Heritage Foundation

Join us at University Women’s Club at Hycroft from 7pm to 8:30pm to enjoy fascinating pieces of Vancouver’s heritage with a selection of local speakers. You may purchase tickets here.

Events:

Blood in the Boonies: Crime and Misadventure in Old South Van

Tuesday, October 28th, 7pm - 8:30pm

$20/15+tax

The southeast corner of the city has always had its perilous moments. The working class neighbourhoods that comprised the formerly independent municipality of South Vancouver spread across a steep hill, where one flank dove sharply to a river lined with sawmills. It was the perfect booming ground for harrowing accidents, tragic bridge mishaps, and fatal tram slams. Join local historian Rob Howatson for a chilling journey through South Vancouver, where every road seems to end at Mountain View Cemetery.

About the Speaker: 

Rob Howatson is a writer, local history buff and lifelong South Van’er. He caught the heritage bug in 2007 when he discovered a time capsule hidden in the old Sunset Community Centre. (It contained rare Bing Crosby footage!) Rob also works for the City of Richmond at Steveston’s heritage sites.

An Imaginary Line: the HBC, the US, and the Fight against the 49th Parallel

Tuesday, November 25th, 7pm - 8:30pm

$20/15+tax

How did the Pacific Northwest get divided between the U.S. and the British Empire? Where does British Columbia’s name come from? Why are there two Vancouvers? From 1821 to 1846 the Hudson’s Bay Company attempted to carve a British claim west of the mountains. The result is a gripping story involving Métis emigrants, legacy-hungry billionaires, and a wandering artist. A dive into the little-told tales of the Pacific Northwest.

About the Speaker

Tom Long has worked in museums and heritage spaces for 25 years, including Fort Edmonton Park, Mangawhai Museum (NZ/Aotearoa), and the Amelia Douglas Institute. He loves storytelling and history and combining the two. He is a Certified Interpretive Guide from the National Association of Interpretation with a particular interest in the 19th century Canadian fur trade. You can find him, his blogs, and his other offerings at northwindheritageconsulting.ca

General Notice: BC Archives Closure

The BC Archives is currently closed due to a labour action.

The union the represents BC Archives workers, the BC General Employers Union (BCGEU), has been on strike since September 2nd. Please check the BC Archives website for more information regarding closures.

Are you a member society with news to share in The Buzz? Send it to laura@bchistory.ca

HISTORICAL NOTES

Cold War intrigue shadowed Trail hockey game

One of the most memorable games in Trail’s hockey history had the RCMP on high alert due to its potential “off-ice intrigue,” according to a story in the latest issue of The Hockey News by BCHF director Ron Verzuh.

Naoko Fukumaru's "Beautifully Broken" Exhibit to Open at the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre

BURNABY, BC — The Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre is proud to announce the opening of "Beautifully Broken – Kintsugi by Naoko Fukumaru," an exquisite exhibition that explores the ancient Japanese art of kintsugi, or "golden joinery." The exhibit will run from October 14, 2025, to February 21, 2026, with an opening reception on Saturday, October 11, 2025, from 3:00-5:00 PM.

Kintsugi is a 500-year-old tradition of repairing broken ceramics by mending them with Urushi lacquer and powdered gold. Instead of hiding the damage, this technique highlights it, celebrating the unique history of the object and the passage of time.

Vancouver-based artist Naoko Fukumaru uses this practice as both a craft and a meditative process. Her work offers a powerful metaphor for personal healing, suggesting that like broken pottery, our own cracks and imperfections can become a beautiful part of our story.

Fukumaru's art respects the traditional materials and methods of kintsugi while also pushing its boundaries with instinctive and innovative techniques. Her unique approach redefines what restoration can mean, connecting history and emotion in works that are both raw and radiant.

This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on what it means to be beautifully broken—and to find strength and beauty in the imperfect.

The exhibit opens on October 14th and runs until February 21st.

"When Spirits Dance" exhibit by Ral Ojah opens in The Cube

In this new body of work, Raluchukwu (Ral) Ojah explores cross-cultural exchange and the immigrant experience through fashion and dance. Drawing on the traditional Ekpe masquerade from his hometown of Amaekpu, Ohafia, Nigeria, Ojah reimagines this spiritual ritual through life-size, wall-mounted dancing figures that reflect his roots and the ways ancestral practices are expressed in contemporary Nigerian and Western fashion. His figures capture the dynamic movements of Igbo, Enugu, and Ohafia dances, which have influenced contemporary dance, including hip-hop and club culture.

The Ekpe masquerade occurs alongside community events throughout the year, marking times of renewal and celebration. These include the Ota Omu Age Grade, a traditional retirement ceremony that passes knowledge from elders to younger generations, and seasonal planting rituals that celebrate growth and harvest. Ojah connects these rites to his own experience of leaving Nigeria and moving to Canada in 2021, where he recently completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Thompson Rivers University.

Ojah incorporates colourful Dutch wax fabric to reference its colonial history in Nigeria. Introduced by the Dutch in the 1880s, the fabric was adopted across Central and West Africa and adapted with local designs, proverbs, and symbolic codes to preserve cultural traditions. Today, it remains central to Nigerian regalia and contemporary fashion.

Through this work, Ojah considers how global exchanges of people and material culture influence art and fashion, while also telling a personal story of heritage and migration.

Manuel Axel Strain celebrates the Coast Salish longhouse in their Richmond Art Gallery debut

Richmond Art Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Manuel Axel Strain, xʷən̓iwən ce:p kʷθəθ nəw̓eyəł ((((Remember your teachings)))), from Sept. 13–Nov. 9, 2025. The artist — of Musqueam, Simpcw, and Syilx descent — celebrates the cedar longhouse as an important architectural form and philosophical framework that reflects the collectivist and relational values of their ancestors and communities.

“Richmond Art Gallery first worked with Manuel Axel Strain for a public artwork featured in the Capture Photography Festival in 2020, and we are thrilled to continue supporting this talented artist,” says curator Zoë Chan. “The Musqueam shed-style longhouse is at the heart of their new exhibition. It is not only an important architectural structure, but also an important spiritual, philosophical, and cultural framework profoundly embedded with the collectivist, relational values of their family members and larger community. The artist also invites viewers to critically consider what dominant structures are being upheld in mainstream Canadian society, whether in terms of architecture or ideology.”

xʷən̓iwən ce:p kʷθəθ nəw̓eyəł (Remember your teachings) will feature new and recent works, including paintings, video, and sculpture. The central longhouse installation pays tribute to a style of home central to the collective life of the Musqueam people and used as a gathering place for culturally significant events, such as marriages and potlatches. The red cedar plank-built edifices are designed to be flexible and modular in order to accommodate multiple and extended families. Before their attempted erasure by colonial powers, longhouses were once found all along the coast.

Strain is a 2-Spirit artist from the lands and waters of the xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Simpcw and Syilx peoples, based in the sacred region of their q̓ic̓əy̓(Katzie) and qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen) relatives. Strain’s mother is Tracey Strain and father is Eric Strain, Tracey’s parents are Harold Eustache (from Chuchua) and Marie Louis (from nk̓maplqs), Eric’s Parents are Helen Point (from xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) and John Strain (from Ireland). Although they attended Emily Carr University of Art + Design, they prioritize Indigenous epistemologies through the embodied knowledge of their mother, father, siblings, cousins, aunties, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandparents and ancestors. They have contributed work to the Vancouver Art Gallery, Surrey Art Gallery, the UBCO FINA Gallery, were longlisted for the 2022 Sobey Award, and were a recipient of the 2022 Portfolio Prize.

Doug Mayer receives CRHA Lifetime Achievement Award

Doug Mayer, Vice-President of the Revelstoke Heritage Railway Society, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Railroad Historical Association.

The award is given to a person who has demonstrated "significant contribution over a period of years" to the preservation of Canadian railway history. Doug has written a series of books on the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Revelstoke area, and is the President of the Revelstoke Model Railway Club. 

CLIPPINGS

Castlegar tears down Pioneer Arena

Trail demolishes first hospital

Greenwood to sell heritage power substation

ADVERTISING

Johnson Group Benefits and Travel rebranding June 30

Effective July 1, Johnson Insurance Group Benefits and Travel operations will come together with belairdirect and rebrand as belairdirect group benefits and belairdirect travel insurance, respectively. 

The BCHF offers a number of advertising opportunities in our e-newsletter, which is distributed to our entire membership monthly. Advertisements are jpeg images sized to 600 px wide for electronic distribution. To submit an ad, contact Laura Van Zant: laura@bchistory.ca

Members enjoy discounted advertising rates. Choose 12 months for the best deal:

1-3 months = $100 each ($100-$300 annually)
4 months = $90 each ($360 annually)
6 months = $80 each ($480 annually)
8 months = $70 each ($560 annually)
12 months = $50 each ($600 annually)

Rates for non-members are as follows:

1-3 months = $150 each ($150-$450 annually)
4 months = $140 each ($560 annually)
6 months = $130 each ($780 annually)
8 months = $120 each ($960 annually)
12 months = $100 each ($1,200 annually)

British Columbia Historical Federation

Box 448, Fort Langley, BC, V1M 247 • info@bchistory.ca

The BCHF Secretariat is located on the unceded traditional territory of the Coast Salish speaking Peoples. This newsletter is drafted and sent from the traditional unceded territory of the Sinixt First Nation.

The BCHF is on Facebook. Join the conversation.