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British Columbia History 58.1 Spring 2025 (Digital)

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19 Articles

Coming Home: Stewardship and Care

Discussions about repatriation and rematriation have become mainstream over the last few years in British Columbia. Many of us have followed news stories with headlines in national and international papers about cultural belongings being returned to First Nations in BC from community and major museums around the world, and from private collectors. These stories are about reconnection. Last fall, a Wet’suwet’en delegation travelled to the Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac, in Paris, to visit the K’ëgit totem pole. In this issue, Wet’suwet’en delegates illuminate the impact of seeing this significant belonging in person. For many Indigenous communities, repatriation or rematriation efforts are multigenerational, and it can take decades, or longer, to bring their belongings home. How can museums and heritage organizations support the work of Indigenous communities? We invited Leia…

Coming Home: Stewardship and Care

Dear Editor, Not since 1982 has Canada Post issued a postage stamp commemorating a key figure in the history of the Canadian labour movement. That was A.R. Mosher, president of the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL) which in 1956 merged with another organization to form the current Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). Since November 2023, we have been working to improve the situation by adding more historic labour figures and events to Canada Post’s commemorative stamp series. We hope the committee will commission a series based on these suggestions. The stamp guidelines call for images that “instill pride in their country” and “evoke Canadian history.” Surely the history of Canadian working people merits such recognition. “Postage stamps have usually presented a selective reading of the public identity,” notes historian David Frank…

A Long and Steamy Connection

The Sts’ailes and Sq’éwlets people of the Harrison River are near neighbours to the original hot springs at Harrison [see Lydia Kineswich’s article page 24] and have a long connection to these waters. The Halq’eméylem name for the location of the town of Harrison Hot Springs is Qwólts, meaning “boiling water” or “medicine water.”1 After the natural hot spring pool adjacent to the Harrison Hot Springs Resort was mysteriously filled with boulders in October 2024, Sts’ailes Grand Chief William Charlie shared that “stories passed down from elders tell how First Nations from afar would paddle their canoes to bathe in the hot springs on the territory of the Sts’ailes First Nation. They believed the water contained medicine.”2 The infill of the pools is being investigated by BC’s Ministry of Water,…

1 Under New Management It’s been one year since the Bonaparte First Nation’s St’uxwtews Pesuten Heritage Society started managing Historic Hat Creek Ranch site. Established in 1860 during the gold rush, the ranch’s roadhouse was an important stop on the Cariboo Wagon Road. It also employed local First Nations. Located 11 kilometres north of Cache Creek, the site is now weaving settler and Indigenous stories together like a braided rope. General Manager Brandy Cooper-Chardon says it has been a rewarding transition year. “We approach this blending with respect and balance, emphasizing that these stories are intertwined yet distinct. Our guided tours and interpretive signage aim to present both perspectives—acknowledging the rich cultural heritage of the St’uxwtews people alongside the impact of settler history. Historic Hat Creek Ranch is a perfect place…

The Cultus Lake Princess Contest Through Stó:lō Women's Voices

The festival The Cultus Lake Indian Festival,1 organized by the Stó:lō people of the Fraser Valley, hosted for many years an annual princess contest. The festival started in 1958, the year of the British Columbia Centennial, when founders Richard Malloway, from Yakweakwioose (Yeqeyeqwí:ws) First Nation, Edna and Albert Douglas, from Cheam (Xwchiyò:m) First Nation, Burns and Wilma Mussell, from Skwah (Sqwá) First Nation, and Sam Jimmie, from Squiala (Sx_woyehá:la) First Nation, won a grant that made it possible to get started.2 The festival’s main attraction were the war canoe races, which attracted people from all over British Columbia and also from Washington State.3 In the beginning, the festival was very popular and attended by big crowds of non-Indigenous people, but with time the event became more focused on an Indigenous…

The Cultus Lake Princess Contest Through Stó:lō Women's Voices

Louise Kaarsmacher (née Louise Silver)

It felt really good. I felt like I had made a big accomplishment because I did work really, really hard. It was almost overwhelming, because everywhere I went, that day especially, people were congratulating me and shaking my hand and I had to walk all day, I had to walk through Cultus Lake grounds and talk to the people. A couple families offered me lunch. I had lunch with one family. My dad followed me everywhere. They had a dance that night as well. And I had to attend that. And my father made sure that I didn’t dance with any boys. I danced with him. It felt really good. It was a proud moment in my life … I felt beautiful, worthy. I haven’t always felt that in my life.…

Louise Kaarsmacher (née Louise Silver)

Maretta Beger (née Maretta Mussell Matheson)

In 1980 I thought it was kind of exciting and scary at the time. Because I was kind of shy. I think it was just an honour to do it, to help the festival raise money. It was fun. I guess maybe it was important. I don’t like to talk about it very much. It’s just … not embarrassing, but … I’m not sure how to say it. And to stay humble about my contribution to the festival. It was all about helping the festival to be successful, to bring our nations to come together and visit and compete in canoe races of all ages and gender. To play Slahal, or the bone game, was exciting and fun to watch, listen to drumming and songs. Nations would sell their crafts; food…

Maretta Beger (née Maretta Mussell Matheson)

Jennifer Campbell (née Jennifer Tommy)

It was very emotional. I remember being shocked and teared up when they announced my name. Because I was like, “Oh, wow.” I didn’t think it was possible. It was quite an honour. It was the first time I ever felt a real connection and then also a responsibility to the Stó:lō people. It is a pivotal point where I learned there was more to me that I was not aware of and then was able to develop my Stó:lō self. As a child I went to a Pentecostal Christian school and wasn’t immersed in the culture but lived on reserve and had a different take on life in general. And in 1990 my family asked me if I wanted to participate in the contest. It was really important to…

Jennifer Campbell (née Jennifer Tommy)

Inez Louis (née Inez Point)

This pageant gave me the opportunity to speak in front of the public, to know that I have power and agency. I can say for the first time and acknowledge that this pageant helped me with that. And it still helps me. That I was “stood up” in front of a large group of people that have travelled from around the entire Pacific Northwest in the entire paddling community and stood me up and acknowledged me as a hard-working young woman. That I’m important, that I am worthy of respect and to encourage me to bring that forward to my community and family. You become a public servant—I guess that’s the only way in English that I can say that—in a cultural way by being your best self. And that’s a…

Inez Louis (née Inez Point)

Lucy Bell Receives Reconciliation Award

Originally published in the Haida Gwaii News on November 22, 2024. The Haida Gwaii News is published by Stacey Brzostowski. When Black Press closed the offices of the Haida Gwaii Observer on Haida Gwaii, Brzostowski and Andrew Hudson started the Haida Gwaii News as an independent newspaper. To support the Haida Gwaii News, visit Patreon: patreon.com/HaidaGwaiiNews. Sdahl Ḵ’awaas, Lucy Bell, recipient of the British Columbia Reconciliation Award, is a dedicated advocate for repatriation and the dismantling of systemic racism within cultural institutions. Four years after resigning from her position at the Royal BC Museum in protest over its deep-rooted discriminatory practices, Bell continues to address the same systemic issues that prompted her departure. Now pursuing a PhD focused on the racism she witnessed in the museum sector, Bell also remains…

Lucy Bell Receives Reconciliation Award

Sdahl Ḵ'awaas, Lucy Bell, PhD (ABD)

The British Columbia Reconciliation Award recognizes extraordinary individuals and organizations who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, integrity, respect, and commitment to furthering reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in the province of British Columbia, or inspired others to continue reconciliation efforts. Learn more about the BC Reconciliation Award recipients; visit the BC Achievement Foundation website, bcachievement.com/award/british-columbia-reconciliation-award-2024/, or the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia’s website, ltgov.bc.ca/priority-programs/the-bc-reconciliation-award/. Watchmen, Skyáanaa ‘la’áaylang, stand atop Haida poles, watching for visitors and for danger. Lucy Bell, Sdahl Ḵ’awaas has served as a Watchman in the museum world, advocating for reconciliation, repatriation, and anti-racism. As a founding member of the Haida Repatriation Committee, she has spent nearly 30 years helping return over 500 ancestral remains to Haida Gwaii, guided by Yahgudang (Respect), and reconnecting the Haida with their 12,000 belongings…

Sdahl Ḵ'awaas, Lucy Bell, PhD (ABD)

Restoring Relations with the K'ëgit Totem Pole

In October 2024, a delegation of Witsuwit’en hereditary chiefs, elders, artists, and youth embarked on an emotional and historic journey to Paris, France. Their goal was to reconnect with a significant piece of their cultural heritage—the K’ëgit totem pole belonging to C’idimsggin’ïs, housed at the Quai Branly Museum. This journey, deeply rooted in cultural revitalization and healing, was an opportunity to see and honour the totem pole that was taken from Witsuwit’en lands in 1938. For many of the delegation members, this trip was more than just a visit; it was a powerful act of reclamation and a step towards strengthening their connection to their ancestors and cultural identity. A history of displacement In 1938, surrealist artist Kurt Seligmann travelled to British Columbia, seeking to purchase a Northwest Coast Indigenous…

Restoring Relations with the K'ëgit Totem Pole

Repatriation has become something of a buzzword in the media these days; however, it’s important to move past empty words when we have these conversations. As Jordan Coble from the Sncewips Heritage Museum summarized, “Repatriation is not just a word, but a call to action.”1 Some in the general public might be confused as to why it is so important for museums to return cultural objects to the communities to which they belong. After all, aren’t museums safeguarding these cultural treasures and doing a valuable service by educating the masses about various cultures around the globe? Well, the truth of the matter is yes—sometimes, sort of—but all too often, the answer is, sadly, a resounding no. More importantly, it’s essential to keep in mind how these pieces of people’s culture…

Repatriation and Reconciliation as Basic Heritage Operations

Leia Patterson is the Reconciliation Resource Advisor for the BC Museums Association, and we have invited her into this space to share her thoughts about how small museums and heritage organizations can begin to do the work of creating authentic relationships that broaden and deepen the stories they tell. Museums, heritage sites, and other collections-holding institutions have always held on to the physical to tell the stories of people and society. I encourage all organizations to consider who your stories highlight, and who your collections and archives are providing context for. I hope that this article provides some starting points for ways to think about incorporating reconciliation considerations into core operations. Think within the work being done When you think about the constraints in your work and in your attempts…

Repatriation and Reconciliation as Basic Heritage Operations

From Health Resort to Pleasure Resort

Lydia Kinasewich was the recipient of the 2022 W. Kaye Lamb Student Scholarship from the BC Historical Federation, and this article is an excerpt from that essay. For more information on Lydia’s work, see her video on the BCHF YouTube channel, tinyurl.com/BCHFKinasewich. In the summer of 1920, a fire erupted on the roof of the St. Alice Hotel situated alongside Harrison Lake, destroying a key tourist accommodation and diminishing accessibility to the healing properties of Harrison Hot Springs. News of this fire was reported throughout the province, noting the loss of a well-known British Columbian hotel.1 After the fire, the only attraction left for tourists at Harrison was the hot springs itself. It became clear that with the loss of this tourist destination centred around health came a new opportunity…

From Health Resort to Pleasure Resort

Ni uchxwiyunem? (Did you listen?)

Before beginning any significant story, Snuneymuxw sulsalewh (Elders) said, “Listen to what you are about to hear,” or after speaking, “Did you hear what I said?” Our grand-father Adam Jimmy said to our mom as a child, “Tell me what I just said!” Ni uchxwiyunem These photographs are important, as is the term ni uchxwiyunem. They capture images and teachings I gained during work with traditional sulsalewh dating back to the 1970s. From them I began to learn that the Coast Salish world was complex, and that sulsalewh applied a very old value system called snuw’uy’ulth to assist with maintaining balance. It was applied with each generation to protect and to surround children. sulsalewh expected us to know about the complex nature of our relationships with each other and with…

Ni uchxwiyunem? (Did you listen?)

AN AMERICAN LEGACY Victoria's Sequoias

There they are—sequoias standing majestically over Victoria’s lovely Rockland Avenue on the way to Government House. Looking into how these trees, which are not native to Vancouver Island, ended up there, I immersed myself in some serious research. The answer soon became quite clear: seedlings were brought north from California. It was most rewarding identifying the original owners of the acreages where these trees were planted in the late 1800s. What I discovered was to inspire me to work up my next book: Twin Cities: Victoria and San Francisco. One day after becoming immersed in the mystery of these magnificent trees, I happened to be strolling along Bowker Creek just below Oak Bay High School where I graduated back in 1965, and there it was! One very large sequoia stands…

AN AMERICAN LEGACY Victoria's Sequoias

A Year of Refracting History!

The Spring 2025 issue marks my first anniversary at British Columbia History magazine. As an avid reader and collector of BC books, I cannot overstate my continuing excitement to have the opportunity to read, critically examine, and write about so many great titles. When new books show up at my doorstep or in my mailbox, I sometimes still wonder Is this real?! I’m a lifelong coastal dweller, so I’ve enjoyed the chance over the last year to explore books and digital resources focused on areas outside my region. I feel thankful for the authors, editors, publishers, and publicists who have introduced me to the wide range of people, places, cultures, and communities that are part of BC’s diverse story. When I reflect on my early goal of trying out new…

$A Year of Refracting History!$

Stories Beneath the Surface

Long before its official opening on June 9, 1969, the Hugh Keenleyside Dam on the Columbia River had already massively changed the lives of those connected to the land in the dam’s reservoir area. The damming of the Columbia just upstream from Castlegar affected wildlife, flooded the former village and burial sites of the Sn̓ʕaýckstx (Sinixt), and displaced settlers and their families from their farms and livelihoods. Marketed as a means to control flooding and to help facilitate increased power generation, the Hugh Keenleyside Dam also brought disruption and loss. Buildings were burned or torn down, and homes and farms were abandoned. Even the cemetery in Mount Cartier was lost to the waters of the Arrow Lakes reservoir. Thousands of people were displaced, and communities were never the same. Originally…

Stories Beneath the Surface

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