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Revitalization of Northwest Coast Hall
Photo submitted by American Museum of Natural History After a multi-year revitalization initiative, the American Museum of Natural History’s Northwest Coast Hall reopened to the public on May 13.
Hall aims to no longer be ‘colonial trophy collection’
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Revitalized part of the American Museum of Natural History has a 63-foot canoe and octopus cleaning videos
By Melissa Renwick Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
New York, New York - Ron Hamilton fi rst stepped into the Northwest Coast Hall inside New York City’s American Museum of Natural History 55 years ago, but as he walked through the gallery all he saw was “a massive trophy case.” “It’s the biggest colonial trophy collection in the world,” he said. The renowned Nuu-chah-nulth artist and cultural historian goes by his Indigenous name, Ḥ aa’yuups. Despite his complicated relationship with the gallery, he has been working as its co-curator for fi ve years – alongside Peter Whiteley, the museum’s curator of North American ethnology. It has been over 120 years since the Northwest Coast Hall has been revitalized and reopened to the public on May 13. The hall is the museum’s oldest gallery, which was installed in 1899 by anthropologist Franz Boas. At the time, it was standard for museums to place Indigenous people at the bottom of an evolutionary hierarchy – and place Europeans and Euro-Americans at the top, said Whiteley. Boas aimed to deliver a “much more equitable representation of Indigenous cultures” by highlighting individual communities within a specifi c region, instead of displaying items based on their function. Boats were no longer placed with other boats – rather, Nuu-chah-nulth objects were displayed with other Nuu-chahnulth objects. It was “absolutely revolutionary,” said Whiteley. Yet, it lacked a “full-bodied presence of Indigenous voices and perspectives,” he said. The updated hall aims to address this by collaborating with Ḥ aa’yuups, and nine other consulting curators from First Nation communities across the northwest coast. Over 1,000 works of art are displayed in the revitalized hall, including a Nuuchah-nulth ceremonial wolf curtain which stretched more than 37-feet, and a 63-foot-long Northwest coast canoe – the largest in existence. As Ḥ aa’yuups refl ects on the experience of updating the hall, one word comes to mind: “frustrating,” he said. “I felt that my role was more token than I had hoped,” Ḥ aa’yuups said. “A curator is involved in planning, restoration [and] stabilization. My involvement in those areas was absolutely minor.” In some ways, Whiteley said he can empathize with Ḥ aa’yuups’ frustrations. “We have a large exhibition department, there is an outside design fi rm, [and] there is the conservation department,” he said. “I’ve often felt as the curator that I should have some greater ability to contribute to this than I think I’ve been getting. And that’s been compounded by COVID-19.” In his role, Ḥ aa’yuups said it was important to address the history of racism in North America. “Racism is what allows much of that material to be there,” he said. While the museum may “possess” the cultural items on display, Ḥ aa’yuups said that everything in the gallery still belongs to the “groups [of people] they were taken from.” When the Indian Act was passed by Canada’s federal government in 1876, it aimed to eliminate Indigenous culture, with the goal of assimilating First Nations, Inuit, and Métis into a Eurocentric society. Many of the Northwest Coast Hall’s artifacts were acquired between 1880 and 1910 during the potlatch ban, which was legislated under an amendment to the act, said Whiteley. The law provided a framework for government offi cials, ethnologists and anthropologists to remove totem poles and other cultural items, such as longhouse murals. Many of the confi scated items ended up in “these massive collections in institutions in the major cities of the world,” said Ḥ aa’yuups. The full stories and the meaning behind each object will never be known until “they’re returned to their communities of origin,” he said. Whiteley said the museum’s priority for international repatriations has been human remains and funerary objects. Almost all of the human remains from Haida Gwaii were repatriated in 2002, along with some funerary objects. There was a follow-up repatriation in 2014 because some remains and funerary objects were missed, he said. The American Museum of Natural History is the largest metropolitan museum to have taken on such an initiative as early as 2002, Whiteley said “More recently, we’ve been inventorying all of the Northwest coast remains collections to see if they can be affi liated with individual nations,” he said. “That’s been the priority.” Cultural objects are more “complicated” because the museum has collections from across the world, Whiteley said. The museum’s administration has agreed to “a limited repatriation” of cultural objects for the consulting curators’ nations, said Whiteley. While Whiteley said it may be diffi cult for First Nations communities to appreciate, the hall has had “immeasurable infl uence” on social justice advancement. “My sense is that the hall has had an immense impact on global thinking about the meaning of culture,” he said. “Particularly about Indigenous cultures of the Northwest coast of North America.” Since 2011, Korianne Ignace has been video recording her daily life living in Usk tua, the traditional winter village of the Hesquiaht First Nation. Many of her most prized recordings are of her late-father, Dave, whom she fi lmed cleaning sea cucumbers, octopus and grouse. Because they ate octopus so rarely, Ignace said her father was the only one who knew how to clean them. As he grew older, Ignace said she made the recordings so her family knew how to clean them if he was no longer able to. “It’s not exactly a well-known skill around here,” she said. “You have to get through the slimy part and get to [a] really big, white tendon, or the middle innards of the octopus.” Ignace’s videos are included in the new iteration of the Northwest Coast Hall as part of the digital kiosk. “It’s really nice to share his memory,” Ignace said. He may be gone, she said, but he lives on through those recordings. Ḥ aa’yuups has yet to see the hall. “I’m waiting to be wowed by the exhibit,” he said. “I don’t want my grandchildren thinking that I behaved cowardly when they go through the exhibit … I want them to be proud of where they’re from, proud of who they are, proud of the history of their family and the achievements of our people.” Despite his frustrations, he said “I’m grateful for the opportunity – I can’t pretend that I’m not.” The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art has since asked Ḥ aa’yuups to work with them to purchase Indigenous material for inclusion in their galleries. “I’m going out there to educate people,” he said. “There’s millions of things on the market from the various tribes in North America. Galleries are starting to collect those things [and] exhibit those things as art – as a high form of creative achievement.” As much as Ḥ aa’yuups said he thinks the material should be put back in the hands of the people who created it, “I know that’s not going to happen anytime soon,” he said. “So, you try to do the best or make the most of whatever situation you fi nd yourself in,” he said. “That’s what I’m doing.”
Reports state that 12 and 13-year-olds are pooling their money to buy bootleg vodka that comes from Tofi no
By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter
Maaqtusiis, BC – Qaamina and Ruth Sam are demanding that vodka be banned from the village, following disturbing incidents of pre-teens being found extremely intoxicated and the death of a young family member due to alcoholrelated liver damage. Two days before she died in 2020, Helen Frank, a young mother, called her aunt Ruth, asking them to keep working hard to ban “red cap” from the village. Not knowing what she meant, Ruth later learned that red cap meant a popular brand of vodka that comes in a bottle with a red lid. It was in October 2020 when Helen told her aunt, “I should have stopped when you told me to. I’m dying, now.” Helen died two days later, leaving a warning that vodka is a silent killer, and she wanted her family to continue to fi ght to have it banned from the village. The Sams have been vocal with their feelings about bootleggers and vodka, holding three marches in the village and helping as cultural supports at programs people go to for assistance withdrawing from alcohol. But it all came to a head when they came home to fi nd their 12-year-old grandchild had been drinking vodka. The couple has fostered eight children. Their eldest granddaughter has aged out of foster care so now they have seven children in their care. “They always say teachings start at home, and we sit down at the table with our grandchildren and talk to them, but we never told them to buy booze,” said Qaamina. When they go out that door they become the children of the community, and when they go to school, they are the school’s children, he added. He said it’s been an emotional time for himself and his wife knowing that their grandchild has access to vodka. “It sparked our anger, knowing it’s gotten into our home,” said Qaamina. The couple has learned that the children, 12- and 13-year-olds, pool their money to buy bootleg vodka. “Five or six of them get together,” said Ruth, adding that they combine their money and buy several bottles. “It makes us not want to give them money anymore.”
~ Qaamina Sam
Ahousaht’s acting Tyee Ha’wilth Hasheukumiss (Richard George) has said that he receives dozens of messages about bootlegging in Ahousaht. He recently told Ha-Shilth-Sa that someone sent him a video clip of a 12-year-old with a bottle of vodka. It is believed that the bottle was bought from a bootlegger in Ahousaht. Hasheukumiss said the child is seen taking about a six-second-long guzzle of straight vodka without fl inching. Ruth said that a 12-year-old child was recently found passed out in front of the band offi ce. “It’s still so cold outside, it’s so dangerous,” she added. Qaamina said that one bootlegger was heard saying it doesn’t matter how young they are, money is money. “They’re delivering bottles right to them, damaging their lives before it gets started,” he said. The Sams have led three awareness marches in Ahousaht over the past few years and each time, more and more
Submitted photo Qaamina and Ruth Sam are demanding that vodka be banned from Ahousaht, following disturbing incidents of pre-teens being found extremely intoxicated. people join. They say that they get dozens of messages of support and are planning another awareness march very soon. “We gotta do something. We know who the bootleggers are, and we look to the authorities and are surprised to hear there’s nothing they can do – they say (bootleggers) can buy vodka in Tofi no and sell it here,” he claimed. “We need to get a ban on vodka here, it’s a silent killer,” said Qaamina. He suggested Ha’wiih need to push for change if they want their muschim to be strong and healthy. “Same with chief and council, they need to stand up with the hereditary chiefs and put their diff erences aside for the sake of the people,” said Qaamina. Both Ahousaht council and the Maaqtusiis Hahoulthee Stewardship Society have announced plans to build healing and recovery centres in Ahousaht territories.
Cause of child’s death not released, answers expected
By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter
Port Alberni, BC - With Dontay Lucas’ father sitting next to them, Port Albenri RCMP announced they “turned every stone” while investigating the death of the six-year-old. The young boy died under suspicious circumstances on March 13, 2018, shortly after he was found in medical distress at a Port Alberni home. Four years later, police announced the arrest of two people with charges of fi rst-degree murder. “Due to the tireless eff orts of investigators, on Friday May 6 the Port Alberni RCMP arrested Dontay’s mother Rykel Frank nee Charleson and her now husband Mitchell Frank and charges were approved for the fi rst-degree murder of Dontay Lucas,” said Const. Richard Johns of the Port Alberni RCMP. Police stated that the four-year delay in making arrests in the death of Dontay Patrick Lucas, a Hesquiaht boy, was due the care that was taken to prepare and present all evidence to Crown counsel. “In order to ensure that offi cers were ready to have this matter before the courts immediately, painstaking eff orts were made to ensure every piece of evidence has been disclosed to the BC Prosecution Service and that the investigation is ready to stand trial,” said Johns, the detachment’s media relations offi cer. At the media event on Monday, May 9, Dontay’s father, Patrick Lucas, sat stoically beside Sergeant Clayton Weibe of Port Alberni General Investigative Services as his grandmother and aunt sat nearby, softly sobbing. Wiebe described the investigation as complex, noting there was a lot of evidence to process. “The volume of material was enormous, and it takes time to put it together,” Weibe stated. He went on to say that they waited for reports from various agencies including the BC Coroner and forensic sciences services. He mentioned cell phone records
Photo by Denise Titian Const. Richard Johns of the Port Alberni RCMP speaks at the police detachment on May 9, as Sergeant Clayton Weibe of the city’s General Investigative Services sits with the father of Dontay Lucas, Patrick Lucas. were part of the investigation. The RCMP waited for Crown counsel to approved charges before arresting the couple. Those charges were approved in the past couple of weeks, according to Wiebe. When asked what the cause of death was, Wiebe said that information couldn’t be released and would come out in the trial. He declined to say why the charges were fi rst degree murder. “In order to explain that properly, I would have to get into the evidence, which I’m not prepared to do right now,” he said. Other children who were in the home at the time of Dontay’s death were immediately removed and placed in care, according to Wiebe. The couple are in custody and will appear before a judge for a bail hearing. According to Wiebe, this is scheduled for Port Alberni Law Courts on Wednesday, May 11. According to the Criminal Code of Canada, murder is fi rst degree if the off ence was “planned and deliberate.” A person’s death can also fall under this classifi cation if the murder occurs while someone is attempting sexual assault or kidnapping and forcible confi nement.
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Photo by Eric Plummer Chantel Moore’s mother Martha Martin speaks before a crowd outside the B.C. legislature in Victoria at a rally in 2020.
Inquest into police shooting begins
Chantel Moore was fatally shot by a police offi cer during a wellness check in 2020
By Denise Titian Ha-Shilth-Sa Reporter
New Brunswick – After two delays, the New Brunswick coroner’s inquest into the police shooting death of Tla-o-quiaht’s Chantel Moore began Monday May 16 near Edmundston, where the 26-yearold lost her life in June 2020. Chief Coroner Jérôme Ouellette fi rst announced on July 7, 2021 that an inquest into the death of Moore had been scheduled to begin Dec. 6, 2021 in the Edmundston region. That was delayed until early 2022 and then again to May 16, 2022. Moore died on June 4, 2020, on the deck outside her residence following a wellness check by Edmundston Police offi cer Jeremy Sun, who shot her fi ve times after alleging she approached him brandishing a knife. Sun was cleared of wrongdoing in a subsequent police watch-dog investigation conducted by Quebec’s BEI (Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes). According to the New Brunswick Coroner’s website, the inquest, the presiding coroner and a jury will publicly hear evidence from witnesses to determine the facts surrounding this death. The jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances in the future. Martha Martin, mother of Chantel Moore, took the stand on Monday, describing what happened the two times Edmundston Police offi cers came to her door in the early morning hours of June 4, 2020. “It’s very emotional and tiring. It’s day one and I am feeling exhausted already,” said Grace Frank, Moore’s grandmother. An inquest is a formal court proceeding that allows for the public presentation of all evidence relating to a death. The Coroner Service is an independent factfi nding agency that does not make any determination of legal responsibility nor does it assign blame. Martha Martin will be supported by her mother Grace Frank, who fl ew in from British Columbia along with Martha’s brother to attend the inquest. The inquest is expected to take one week.
Chantel Moore
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