First Nations Newsletter Fall 2017

F I R ST

N AT I O N S

FALL

2017

NEWSLETTER A MESSAGE FROM LUCY BELL HEAD OF FIRST NATIONS AND REPATRIATION PROGRAM DEPARTMENT ROYAL BC MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES Singaay ‘laas, dii tawlang! Good day, my friends!

I am very honoured to be the new head of the First Nations and Repatriation Program department at the Royal BC Museum.

I came to Victoria from Haida Gwaii, where I worked for the Xaad Kihlgaa Hl Suu.u (Speak Haida) Society and the Haida Heritage and Repatriation Society.

Last year, when I came to the University of Victoria to celebrate receiving my master’s in Indigenous Language Revitalization and my diploma in Cultural Resource Management, I recall asking my daughter what she thought about living here. Little did I know that we would move the next year!

The timing felt right to join the Royal BC Museum. My career in museums and repatriation began here at the museum where I completed an internship in 1995.

For the past 22 years, I have worked as a community curator, researcher and author, in addition to cofounding the Haida Repatriation Committee. After cocurating a number of exhibits, coauthoring a few books and repatriating more than 500 Haida ancestral remains, a totem pole and many other cultural treasures, I felt I could share my expertise with you on your repatriation journey.

We are working on a number of initiatives to better serve First Nations communities in BC. Our first action has been to combine the ethnology and archaeology departments into a new First Nations and Repatriation Program department. I am very happy to be working with an experienced and passionate team, and I encourage you to reach out to them. Together, we have created a strategy for action based on the priorities stated at our repatriation symposium. To make sure we keep engaged with Indigenous voices, we are also establishing a First Nations Advisory Committee to advise the museum on First Nations initiatives.

Lucy Bell (centre) meets with National Chief Perry Bellegarde (left) and Royal BC Museum CEO Prof. Jack Lohman (right).

We are tackling a number of big projects in our first year, including: • Repatriation of ancestral remains held at the museum • Publication of a book featuring First Nations repatriation stories and strategies • Development of a repatriation plan for our First Nations audiovisual collection • Refreshing the First Peoples gallery to better represent First Nations voices We recognize that the museum and archives needs a stronger relationship with First Nations and that we have a responsibility to communicate with you. This newsletter is intended to introduce the new First Nations and Repatriation Program department and some of the exciting initiatives that are under way.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Dalang ahl kil ‘laagang, Sdaahl K’awaas

Lucy Bell

INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES ON REPATRIATION SYMPOSIUM 29–31 MARCH 2017 IN KELOWNA This spring the Royal BC Museum partnered with the First Peoples’ Cultural Council to hold a symposium on the repatriation of First Nations objects, intangible cultural heritage and ancestral remains. First Nations leaders, scholars and artists from across the province took part in the symposium and spoke powerfully on the need for repatriation. In all, over 200 delegates were in attendance and more than 40 presenters spoke. We are very excited to have been able to facilitate this discussion on behalf of the province, and we look forward to receiving further feedback from First Nations on how to move forward with our repatriation program.

We are committed to putting the recommendations presented at the symposium into action. A complete program and report outlining key findings can be found on the Royal BC Museum website at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/collections/first-nations/ repatriation/symposium

Left to right: Artists Kelli Clifton, Vern Williams, William White and Lou-Ann Neel speak at the repatriation symposium in Kelowna.

ACCESSING FAMILY INFORMATION AT THE ARCHIVES

Taalgyaa’adad Betty Richardson of the Haida Immersion program speaks with Archivist Genevieve Weber about Haida songs in the collections of the Royal BC Museum and Archives.

The BC Archives at the Royal BC Museum holds in its collections many examples of intangible cultural heritage, including recordings of songs, ceremonies and other musical works from Indigenous communities across the province. We are consulting with community members to ensure that our online descriptions are correct and respectful, that we understand and adhere to family and cultural restrictions, and that awareness of the collections continues to spread. As part of the consultation process, we are committed to making digital copies of the material so that communities can use their songs and to further language revitalization efforts in the province.

REPATRIATION OF FIRST NATIONS ANCESTRAL REMAINS AT THE ROYAL BC MUSEUM Supporting the return of ancestral remains to First Nations communities is very important to the Royal BC Museum. We understand that it is not appropriate for us to have ancestors stay with us, and it is vital that they go home to their communities. We have worked to return remains to First Nations for many decades, but it has been a slow process and many ancestors are still waiting to go home. There were once over 1200 ancestral remains stored in the museum and we still have the remains of 727 First Nations ancestors here.

Many of the remains came to us as the result of archaeological excavations, while others were brought to us by the coroner or by members of the public.

The museum does not actively collect ancestral remains. Archaeologists now consult with the local First Nation before excavations begin and together they develop a plan to keep ancestral remains at home, where they belong.

In order to return ancestral remains currently held at the museum, staff members Grant Keddie and Dr. Genevieve Hill are completing research on the original locations of ancestors’ graves. We have already started to reach out to communities to initiate repatriation and will continue this process to notify all associated First Nations by the end of 2017. We look forward to working with all of you to respectfully repatriate your ancestors’ remains.

Above: Woven spruce root hat made by Isobel Rorick, 1989.

RBCM 18972.

Below: Lucy Bell participates in a food-burning ceremony at the repatriation symposium in Kelowna.

UCHUCKLESAHT REPATRIATION On June 20, the Royal BC Museum transferred two exceptional Nuu-chah-nulth masks to the Uchucklesaht Nation under the terms of the Maa-nulth Final Agreement, which came into effect in 2011. The masks were delivered to Port Alberni by Dr. Martha Black and were formally welcomed home by Chief Clifford Charles and members of the Uchucklesaht Nation. Joe Tom eloquently expressed the masks’ importance in strengthening the Uchucklesaht people today and thanked the museum for being the masks’ temporary custodian.

Chief Clifford Charles and Marie Samuel (Rush) carry the masks on cedar boughs into the Uchucklesaht Nation’s new government building in Port Alberni. Joe Tom holds the eagle feather.

ROYAL BC MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES CONTACTS The First Nations and Repatriation Program department cares for archaeological collections, First Nations audio visual recordings and cultural objects at the Royal BC Museum. We are supported by staff from across the museum and the BC Archives. We are here to help Indigenous people access, research and connect with the information and objects in our museum and archives. Please get in touch with our team.

LUCY BELL

DR. MARTHA BLACK

BRIAN SEYMOUR

SHEILA SAMPSON

Head of First Nations and Repatriation 250-217-4522 lbell@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Curator of Ethnology 250-387-2457 mblack@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Collections Manager 250-387-2440 bseymour@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Collections Assistant 250-387-4494 ssampson@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

DR. GENEVIEVE HILL

GRANT KEDDIE

SEBASTIAN IRVINE

GENEVIEVE WEBER

Collections Manager and Researcher 250-893-8019 ghill@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Curator of Archaeology 250-387-2416 gkeddie@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Special Projects Advisor 250-380-8269 sirvine@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Archivist 250-886-4017 gweber@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Currently we are receiving a large number of requests. We try our best to respond in a timely manner, but due to present volume a reply may take longer than usual.

We are always pleased to receive your inquiries and apologise for any delays. Your patience is appreciated.

ROYALBCMUSEUM.BC.CA/FIRST-NATIONS