Indigenous Newsletter - Spring 2020

Spring 2020

INDIGENOUS ROYAL BC MUSEUM NEWS

Wool blanket from Sto:lo Nation

Photo courtesy of UVic Alumni.

A MESSAGE FROM LUCY BELL, SDAAHL K’AAWAS HEAD OF INDIGENOUS COLLECTIONS AND REPATRIATION DEPARTMENT Sangaay ‘laas, dii tawlaang! Good afternoon, my friends!

Last year, 2019, was incredibly busy, challenging and rewarding for the Indigenous Collections and Repatriation department (ICAR) at the Royal BC Museum.

There have been big changes in staffing in the past 12 months. Our ICAR team shrank as we said goodbye to curator Dr. Martha Black who retired, Pam Rutley who went back to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development and Brooke Albers who has gone on to teach piano lessons. Haw.aa, thank you, all for your contributions! This year, we also welcomed Sebastian Blackthorne to the team while Dr. Genevieve Hill is home with her new baby boys.

Congratulations to Grant Keddie, curator of archaeology, who celebrated 50 years at the museum!

On a personal note, I started my PhD this year to examine ways museums can Indigenize their museum practice. I strongly believe there are lessons in our languages, in our traditional beliefs and ways of being that can transform the ways museums operate. I look forward to hearing your stories and sharing my discoveries with you.

I wish you a happy 2020 as we go forward in a new era of reconciliation, repatriation and honouring the new Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Daláng ahl kíl ‘láagang

Lucy Bell, Sdaahl K’aawas

A MESSAGE FROM LOU-ANN NEEL REPATRIATION SPECIALIST It’s hard to believe that 2019 has come and gone so quickly. We’ve been very busy with a number of projects that will continue into the new year and beyond. It’s hard to

believe… into the new year and beyond. I am excited to be working with the Knox family to open Wawadiťła on Friday evenings for Kwakwaka’wakw cultural nights.

We have also continued to work with communities to arrange for the repatriation of Ancestral Remains and burial belongings.

Some of these repatriations are part of the BC Treaty Process, while others are not. Since each situation is unique, the museum works closely with communities to ensure there is sufficient time and space to consult with Elders and Community cultural experts.

This ensures proper protocols are followed, and that adequate time is scheduled to plan and to carry out the appropriate ceremonies related to the return of these items. We are learning a great deal as we proceed with this important work, and we appreciate the guidance of Elders and Knowledge Keepers throughout this important process.

If your community has a repatriation inquiry for the Royal BC Museum, send me an email at lneel@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.

REPATRIATION HANDBOOK Check out the new repatriation book written by Lucy Bell, Nika Collison and Lou-ann Neel. This is a practical guide for Indigenous communities beginning their repatriation journeys.

We will update the online version this year, adding more practical tips and case studies. Let us know if you have a repatriation case study you would like to add. And we will also be working on converting the PDF version into a website for easier navigation and are planning for future print editions.

Get your copy today! Available at the Royal Museum Shop and through Amazon, or download it at rbcm.ca/repatriationbook.

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YEAR OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES In 2019, we celebrated UNESCO’s Year of Indigenous Languages. Besides increasing our digitization of language resources, we also partnered with First People’s Cultural Council (FPCC) to support, HELISET TŦE SḰÁL, the International Conference on Indigenous Languages. Hundreds of language champions came to the Our Living Languages: First Peoples’ Voices in BC exhibition, visited the museum’s language resource booth at the conference and attended our presentation on the language resources at the museum.

In early December 2019, as the International Year of Indigenous Languages came to an end, the United Nations declared an International Decade of Indigenous Languages, to begin in 2022. This is very exciting for the museum, as we anticipate having many more audio recordings digitized by the end of the year, which will undoubtedly lead to many more exciting community initiatives in language revitalization.

OUR LIVING LANGUAGES TRAVELLING EXHIBITION This year, we also partnered with FPCC and the BC Museums Association to create a travelling version of Our Living Languages: First Peoples’ Voices in BC. See this exhibition as it travels throughout BC. This exhibition highlights what First Nations communities throughout the province are doing to help 34 different languages survive and flourish. Through interactive stations, video and audio, Our Living Languages provides visitors with the opportunity to learn more about the history of disrupted languages in BC, the complexity of these languages, and the people— and entire communities—that are working tirelessly to document and revitalize them.

See the What’s On Calendar for touring dates and locations or book it to bring it to your community. Visit rbcm.ca/oll for more information.

In partnership with

Sponsored by Museum Assistance Program

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INDIGENOUS ROYAL BC MUSEUM NEWS

FIRST PEOPLES GALLERY REFRESH

A new contemporary display co-curated by Willie White in the First Peoples gallery.

Thank you to the Indigenous visitors who gave advice on modernizing the First Peoples gallery at the Indigenous engagement sessions. It was a good chance for the museum to showcase the recent gallery refreshes cocurated by Willie White and Guujaaw and to imagine modernizing the rest of the gallery.

If you’re visiting the museum, don’t forget to identify yourself as an Indigenous person at the box office for free entry to the core galleries.

First Peoples gallery refresh proudly supported by

Dianne Hinkley looks at documents in the archives, 2019.

Andy Everson.

Photo courtesy of Kimberley Kufaas.

INDIGENOUS ADVISORY AND ADVOCACY COMMITTEE (IAAC) The Royal BC Museum is so grateful to IAAC for advising on the Indigenous-related work at the museum. This year we said goodbye to Angela Wesley as our chair and we welcomed Dianne Hinkley from Cowichan Tribes and Andy Everson from K’ómoks.

As the committee grows and changes, its role has evolved. IAAC started out with a tight focus on repatriation, but they now advise on many Indigenous issues at the

museum. They provide ongoing advice and recommendations to all departments, and in more recent months, they have also begun discussions on how the museum can reflect and honor the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act in all museum policies, programs and services. We look forward to receiving IAAC’s advice and input on strategic planning and modernization.

Skwetsimeltxw Willard ‘Buddy’ Joseph and Chepximiya Siyam’ Chief Janice George.

WELCOME CHEPXIMIYA SIYAM’ CHIEF JANICE GEORGE Chief Janice George of the Squamish Nation is joining the BC Museums Association and Royal BC Museum as the Indigenous engagement coordinator. As part of her role, Janice will devote half of her time to working with the museum exhibitions team to promote and secure bookings within Indigenous communities for the Our Living Languages travelling exhibition. She will also work in coordination with the First Peoples’ Cultural Council to develop educational programming materials, which she will deliver in the communities the display visits.

Her two-year placement is funded by a Canadian Heritage MAP grant and a generous contribution from the First Peoples’ Cultural Council.

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MODERNIZING A MUSEUM SUPPORTING A CHANGE IN PRACTICE As we continue to work with the Government of BC on a business case for modernizing the museum infrastructure, we are also considering what it means to modernize how we work.

Museums around the world are being urged to include diverse voices on history and reevaluate whose stories are told, and many are looking to the Royal BC Museum as a leader on how to approach this fundamental change.

One of the ways we are making change is in expanded community engagement processes. We are (slowly) taking steps toward

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ensuring that community engagement is core to our practice. This past September the museum held two 2-day sessions with Indigenous people from across BC. They came to the museum to learn about the Indigenous collections and programs and to give advice on modernization. Our guests offered immensely important advice and feedback on their existing experience with the museum and what could be transformed.

The recommendations from those sessions are now publicly available in a report on the Royal

INDIGENOUS ROYAL BC MUSEUM NEWS

BC Museum website at rbcm.ca/ IndigenousModernizationReport.

We, the museum staff, were so honoured to have our Indigenous guests take the time to visit us and give their advice. We look forward to strengthening our relationships, following through on the modernization advice we heard and continuing to build relationships with Indigenous people across British Columbia.

Wawadit’la ceremonial house, located in Thunderbird Park at the Royal BC Museum. Photo courtesy of Marcia Dawson.

Dylan Thomas is the City of Victoria’s newest Indigenous Artist in Residence.

general aesthetic principles. If your design fundamentals are strong, you can work in any medium—I’ve done sandblasting and carving and relief-cut metal!—and still be true to the lineage of the tradition. Rande was patient with me. I wouldn’t be an artist today without him.”

It was also Cook who introduced Thomas to the Royal BC Museum database, which he now uses regularly to research Coast Salish artifacts and seek inspiration for his acclaimed artwork.

A DREAM ATTAINED DYLAN THOMAS IS VICTORIA’S NEWEST INDIGENOUS ARTIST IN RESIDENCE Dylan Thomas fondly remembers playing a crude form of Pictionary with his dad when he was just three years old: “I’d draw something until he guessed what it was. I think it’s fair to say that art has been a part of my entire life.”

It’s a long way from dining-table doodles to gallery-worthy graphics, and the path wasn’t always clear to the 34-year-old Coast Salish artist also known as Qwul’thilum.

But in late 2019, what had once seemed an “unattainable dream” became very real: the City of Victoria named Thomas its newest Indigenous Artist in Residence.

A member of the Lyackson First Nation, he grew up in Victoria, BC. At 13, he left childhood friends behind to attend

“It’s the bread-and-butter of my learning process. I look at old artifacts every day. I want to use it to make public art that honours the culture and people of the Lekwungen. I want to tap into the deep history here; what motifs and legends are from this area? This is the stuff I love.

Shoreline School’s Indigenous art program. Always a keen illustrator, Thomas had planned to attend Emily Carr University to become a graphic designer. “But I didn’t put enough work into my portfolio so I decided to wait a year and make a better effort.”

“It’s been hard sometimes but I’m glad I stuck with it and kept studying and producing. The last couple of years, I’ve really started to believe. And I’m really looking forward to helping develop the relationship between local First Nations and the city over the next two years as part of the reconciliation effort.”

Fate intervened when Thomas’s father connected him with Kwakwaka’wakw artist Rande Cook. He began making jewellery under Cook’s tutelage, and by 2006 he was apprenticed full-time to the senior artist who, he says, “completely changed my mind-frame.

Dylan Thomas created the iconic logo for Orcas: Our Shared Future, the exciting new feature exhibition opening May 15, 2020 at the Royal BC Museum. Learn more at rbcm.ca/orcas. His work also graces the cover of the recently published Indigenous Repatriation Handbook.

“I thought art was all big visions, but Rande said, ‘No, it’s about the details.’ He taught me about weight, balance, flow—all those

See more of Dylan’s work @salish_artist_dylan_thomas dylandthomasartist

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ORCAS: OUR SHARED FUTURE Orcas are coming to the museum! From May 15 to December 31, 2020, the Orcas: Our Shared Future exhibition will deep dive into regional histories about our neighbours in the oceans. This new artwork by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas illustrates human-orca relationships across time, space and cultures. Come see it in its entirety up close, along with works by Richard Hunt, Art Thompson, Bill Reid and more!

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INDIGENOUS ROYAL BC MUSEUM NEWS

Orcinus Orca Skannaa. Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (Haida), Watercolour and pen on paper 2019.

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SLOW ROLLS IN THE FOG EXCERPT FROM SPIRITS OF THE COAST: ORCAS IN SCIENCE, ART AND HISTORY BY ‘CÚAGILÁKV JESS HOUSTY Once when I was a little girl I was in a skiff with my father. The vessel reminded me of a piece of driftwood: curved, light, and somehow a little impermanent.

As we puttered slowly down the channel, a pod of orcas appeared.

It was as though they’d manifested out of the dense fog, and although they overtook us quickly, their pace seemed to slow to match their curiosity. They surfaced and dove too quickly to count them all; it was orcas all the way down. They performed lazy rolls, the calves clumsy as they practiced their spyhopping. Occasionally an adult would breach, with the elegance of a salmon, and the enormous power of rolling thunder.

Their clicks and cries made the skiff shake, and their vocalizations vibrated up into my bones. The hull of the boat was the most fragile of liminal spaces dividing me from the whales, and the closeness made me feel a sense of deep safety—like the ocean was a womb and they were the pulse of my mother, beating all around me.

They paced us for awhile, the females and their calves closest to the boat and the rest of the pod radiating outward. The dorsal fins that cut the surface were dark against the backdrop of the ocean, and darker against the fog. And there we were, my father and I, cupped in the curve of our little skiff with the barrier between ocean and sky dissolving all around us.

Gradually, the pod carried on ahead of us. And the last we saw was a magnificent bull whose massive 8

head plowed straight toward our boat, turning into a slow dive so close to us that the top of his dorsal fin was within arm’s reach just before he disappeared beneath the hull.

I thought I would feel bereft in that moment; instead I felt full. And to this day, nearly three decades later, that moment is what slips into my mind when I think of the definition of prayer.

INDIGENOUS ROYAL BC MUSEUM NEWS

Spirits of the Coast coming May 15, 2019 from Royal BC Museum Publishing.

INSECTS OF THE PACIFIC COAST There are likely many species of insects that are unique to shores and islands of the Pacific coast.

Changes in biodiversity due to current and future events (climate change, development, marine disasters) can only be understood if we have a record of what species are here now. Joel Gibson, curator of entomology, is eager to make these discoveries.

His work involves collecting and identifying insects from a range of locations over time. Training people in collecting, preparing, identifying and reporting insects are all a part of his future plans. He especially wants to work with local communities and institutions. The people who live in a place are most likely to know about the unique habitats within it and the unique insects that may exist there.

The shoreline is a prime hunting spot for spiders near Prince Rupert, BC.

Any knowledge about insect species that we gather will be available for other types of use (public exhibits, ecological and evolutionary research, artistic interpretation, comparisons to traditional knowledge).

Anything that we find can be turned into locally-driven questions about insects and the Pacific coastal ecosystem.

If you want to discuss insect projects in your area contact Joel Gibson, curator of entomology, at jgibson@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.

On Calvert Island, a female barnacle fly (Oedoparena glauca) seeks out a barnacle in which to lay its eggs. royalbcmuseum.bc.ca 9 Spring 2020

COMMUNITY OUTREACH Throughout this past year, we travelled to various community events and the Ƚáu, Welnew Tribal School.

We’ve set up information booths featuring binders of historic photographs, inventories of audiovisual resources and staff ready to discuss repatriation initiatives. We are grateful for the invitation to Hoobiyee (Nisga’a New Year) celebrations in Vancouver; the Indigenous Cultural Festival at the museum on National Indigenous Peoples Day; the International Conference on Indigenous Languages in Victoria and the BC Elders Gathering in Vancouver. Last year, ICAR team members also gave talks and collaborated with the BC Museums Association, the Canadian Museums Association and to the Chilean Cultural department. If you have a community event you would like to invite the museum to attend, contact Lou-ann Neel at lneel@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.

Lekwungen dancers, traditional dancers’ performance.

INDIGENOUS WINTER MARKET Following the enormous success of the Indigenous Summer Arts Studio, the museum’s Learning department and ICAR coordinated the Indigenous Winter Market, which featured artists who had participated in the summer studio project. The one-day market took place in the museum’s Clifford Carl Hall, and it was very well received by the public, museum staff and volunteers. It was a wonderful opportunity for some holiday shopping, and for emerging artists it was a chance to gain additional experience interacting with the public and presenting the work they had created over the summer months.

Both the Indigenous Summer Arts Studio and Indigenous Winter Market are part of a larger strategy to engage with artists year-round and to encourage them to visit the museum’s Indigenous collections as a regular part of their arts practices. It is also an opportunity for the museum to hear their important input on the protocols the museum needs to observe in terms of exhibitions and repatriation.

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INDIGENOUS ROYAL BC MUSEUM NEWS

Virgil Sampson at the Winter Market.

Ceremony for Quatsino Pole Mungo Martin’s family with museum staff.

THUNDERBIRD PARK GETS A FACELIFT The Thunderbird Park Working Group was created to address all safety and seismic upgrades to Thunderbird Park. The poles, replicas made by Mungo Martin and other carvers, are 50 years old and needed to be assessed.

We found out two of the poles had deteriorated so much that they needed to be taken down.

These two replica poles, one a replica of a Haida pole and one of a Quatsino pole, were carved

by Mungo Martin, so when they were taken down they were sent to Mungo’s home village of Fort Rupert. We honoured these poles with representatives from Mungo Martin’s family, Kwakwaka’wakw and Haida guests and staff in

a small ceremony. The facelift continues as Kwakwaka’wakw artists David Knox and Mervyn Child repaint the Kwakwaka’wakw heraldic pole and as we replace and strengthen the supports and appendages on the others.

Watch for a documentary on the Thunderbird Park restoration project in the near future.

Contractors lowering the replica Quatsino Pole in preparation for travel.

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INDIGENOUS ROYAL BC MUSEUM NEWS

UNDERSTANDING THROUGH ART THE INDIGENOUS SUMMER ARTS STUDIO For more than 50 years, a Carving Studio operated in Thunderbird Park, adjacent to the Royal BC Museum. It was a mentorship program featuring a series of master and apprentice carvers.

Many of those emerging artists would later become renowned master carvers and artists themselves. In 2008, it was discovered that the building was no longer structurally sound, and the studio closed.

Many of the artists who worked in the studio found the experience important, and they never forgot the teachings they had received there. In the spring of 2019, discussions about renewing the program began and in the summer of 2019 the Summer Arts Studio ran in Thunderbird Park.

Inspired by its roots in the original Carving Studio (1952–2008), this summer studio offered a space for mentoring and an opportunity for emerging Indigenous artists to learn from one another and interact with the public.

Each week showcased different featured artists and media, ranging

from carving and beadwork to textiles and cedar weaving.

Featured artists included Tsawout carver Doug LaFortune, ‘Na̱mgis and Mamalilikulla carver Kevin Cranmer, Métis beadwork artist Lynette La Fontaine and many more. Each artist’s work had a unique story rooted in their culture and perspective.

This summer program served as a prototype for a future permanent model. Surveys were conducted on site and online for artists and the public to share their ideas on what this future program could look like. The results will help the Royal BC Museum develop the framework for a permanent studio.

The Indigenous Summer Arts Studio carried on the legacy of the Carving Studio in a new light by expanding its doors to feature all art forms and various different artists. Most importantly it allowed Indigenous artists to share their processes and culture with the public to help build cultural connections and understanding through shared experiences.

Joslyn Williams, a Nuu-chah-nulth and Kwakwaka’wakw carver.

Virgil Sampson, Nez Perce and Coast Salish artist, showing children how to create a drum.

Sarah Jim, artist, Tswawout Nation.

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GRANT KEDDIE A 50-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE I could write many books on what I have done over my 50 years at the museum. One of the things I value most are the many programs I have shared with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

My interest in the manufacture of ancient Indigenous stone and bone tools led me to experiment with making them myself. I soon learned that to do required considerable knowledge and skill, and I have enjoyed demonstrating to museum visitors the precision and care required to make them well.

At events that involved Indigenous artists, such as weavers and carvers, I was often the only non-Indigenous person giving presentations. One event in Alberni I remember very well.

George Watts, whom I was familiar with from his presence at Native Rights demonstrations, was the moderator. George attended each session and quietly observed me bashing rocks. At the conclusion, while everyone was gathered in the bleachers, George provided a summary of what he had observed. He looked up at me with a smile and exclaimed to the great amusement of the crowd: “There is a lot to be said for a token white man.” I took this as a compliment, laughing along with everyone else. I no longer felt like the odd person out.

I have also been working with the Songhees Nation for many years. One of the larger projects I was involved in began in 1974. At the request of Chief John Albany and with the assistance of then councillor (later chief) Robert 14

Young people from the Songhees Nation participating in the Archaeological Training Project in 1975.

Sam, the museum launched an archaeological training project for Songhees youth. This evolved into a four-year project of summer excavations at Songhees and other projects at the museum.

Another highlight was working with Lillian Sam and her aunt Lizette Hall (née Prince) of the Nak’azdli community at Fort St. James. I was sent on a mission by 90-year-old Lizette to find what was believed to be the famous Kwah’s dagger—once in the possession of her father Chief Louie Billy.

Four years of searching later, in 2006, I drove to Fort St. James to deliver the famed dagger to the grand opening of the Nak’adzli exhibit at the Fort St. James Historic Fort. The exhibit was the first one co-developed by Nak’adzli elders and Parks Canada.

Although the dagger was technically on loan, my hopes were that it would stay with the Nak’adzli, and eventually this came to pass. In 2011 the dagger was officially transferred to the Nak’azdli people. The full

INDIGENOUS ROYAL BC MUSEUM NEWS

Lillian Sam and Grant Keddie at Burns Lake in 2002. Royal BC Museum’s Living Landscape.

story of this is available at rbcm. ca/kwahs-dagger. Near the same time, I assisted in having the Chief Kwah recognized as a National Historic Figure.

I hope that over the years I have inspired many young people to appreciate the knowledge, skills and complexity of traditional cultures of British Columbia. It has certainly been rewarding for me.

DIGITIZATION OF THE INDIGENOUS COLLECTIONS All museums with language recordings have a role to play in supporting language and cultural revitalization. The museum is committed to supporting this movement and has amped up the Indigenous A/V digitization program. To date, we have digitized approximately 18,000 historic photographs, more than 400 recordings and all of the Wilson Duff microfilm scans.

Seb Blackthorne at work, 2020.

WELCOME TO THE TEAM Sebastian Blackthorne joined the museum in September 2019 as the Archaeology Collections Manager, acting as Dr. Genevieve Hill’s maternity leave replacement. Seb joins us from the BC Archaeology Branch.

Seb has vast experience in museums and archaeology. He has worked at the Design Museum in London, at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery in Richmond and for Parks Canada in Calgary. He has also worked as an archaeologist for several years.

While at the museum, Seb will issue provincial artifact catalogue numbers, review repository requests, receive archaeological materials and support repatriation requests. He will also conduct material culture research and hopes to work on policy development supporting historical archaeology collections.

Digital repatriation is important to the museum and the Indigenous communities it serves. We are proud to provide digitized free of charge to Indigenous language and cultural organizations as our response to the calls to the TRC. We can also share recordings and photographs with family members for personal use.

Our amazing technician, Geena Wilson, says, “One of the most rewarding aspects of this work is when a community member recognizes a person, a place, or a cultural treasure in the photos, and shares that information so it can become part of the photo’s record.

It is also extremely rewarding to be able to provide copies of the photos to communities as part of our work in repatriation.”

In the coming year, the museum will work on digital repatriation to get these important historical records back to Indigenous communities, and we plan to work with Indigenous youth to pilot an online preview of the collection.

Kolin Sutherland-Wilson, Gitxsan Nation, researching at the museum and archives.

First Peoples digitization project proudly supported by

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Leslie McGarry in totem hall, First Peoples gallery.

NEW HORIZONS FOR LESLIE McGARRY EDUCATOR, COLLABORATOR, ADVISOR AND FRIEND In April of this year, Leslie McGarry leaves her work here at the Royal BC Museum as Indigenous educator to begin a new chapter in her knowledge-sharing as a cultural programmer at the Capital Regional District in Victoria.

Leslie has worked in partnership with the Royal BC Museum since 1994 as an independent contractor supporting the museums indigenous-centred school programs. But her connection to the museum has even deeper roots. Her paternal greatgrandfather was Chief Jonathan Hunt, who approved the replication of his cedar plank ceremonial big house, now situated at the core First Peoples gallery on the third floor. The house was built by her grandfather, Chief Henry Hunt, with assistance from her uncle, Chief Tony Hunt; both of them 16

worked with her maternal greatgrandfather, Chief Mungo Martin, on the totem pole restoration project in Thunderbird Park.

Leslie conducted real and virtual tours of the First Peoples gallery, provided professional development opportunities for teachers and volunteers, and participated in a number of workshops aimed at incorporating more Indigenous ways into our programs and exhibition narratives.

Her contribution to continuing her family’s legacy here has been immense and everyone who has borne witness to her warmth and wisdom will miss her daily presence. Gilakas’la, Leslie! We are not, however, saying goodbye.

We look forward to new ways of collaborating and co-creating programs together.

INDIGENOUS ROYAL BC MUSEUM NEWS

Wilson Tutube, Nuu-chah-nulth volunteer at the Royal BC Museum.

INDIGENOUS VOLUNTEERS OPPORTUNITIES The Royal BC Museum would love to bring more Indigenous volunteers to the museum.

If you live in Victoria and are interested in giving your time, there may be opportunities to volunteer in the Indigenous collections or at special events such as the annual Indigenous Cultural Festival or Summer Arts Studio Program. If you don’t live in Victoria, you can volunteer by working with language tapes and transcripts from your community or host a visit from our Indigenous Collections and Repatriation staff in your community. Your volunteer hours may even count towards your school credits. For more information, contact Holli Hodgson hhodgson@royalbcmuseum. bc.ca, 250-387-7902 or visit rbcm.ca/volunteer.

WHAT’S ON CALENDAR STAY CONNECTED @IndigenousRoyalBCMuseum

ICAR OUTREACH AND INFORMATION BOOTH

Look for us at the following events: First Nations Education Steering Committee’s Language Conference February 24 and 25, 2020 Pinnacle Hotel, Vancouver, BC Hoobiyee February 28 and 29, 2020 PNE Agrodome, Vancouver, BC Gathering Our Voices Youth Conference March 16–19, 2020 Kamloops, BC

WORLD WATER DAY

A confluence of voice, sound, film and dance will explore water and its importance to all life on earth.

March 22 I 10:00 am–4:00 pm $20 per person Royal BC Museum

SPRING INSTITUTE

Join us to hear about the fascinating studies taking place across our organization. This full day of talks by Royal BC Museum staff, emeriti and research associates will also include discussions, interactives and poster presentations—drop in for one session or stay all day.

April 18 I 10:00 am–4:00 pm Free Royal BC Museum

@RoyalBCMuseum

INDIGENOUS CULTURAL FESTIVAL

Celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day at the seventh annual Victoria Indigenous Cultural Festival outdoors on the Royal BC Museum precinct. Visitors will be treated to an immersive Indigenous cultural experience at this free event.

June 19–21 Free Royal BC Museum

BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOURS

Experience the working environments of our talented researchers and staff. Tours are limited to 10 people. Destination Canada has identified these amazing tours as a Canadian Signature Experience.

Included with admission

GALLERY TOURS

ORCAS: OUR SHARED FUTURE EXHIBITION Dive deep into the stories and science surrounding the Orca, apex predator of all oceans. Surface with a new understanding of how Orcas and humans are connected.

Included with admission

OUR LIVING LANGUAGES TRAVELLING EXHIBITION Quesnel and District Museum and Archives January–May 2020 White Rock Museum January–May 2020 Kelowna Museum June–September 2020 Fort St John North Peace Museum June–September 2020

Join us for engaging volunteerled tours through our permanent galleries and learn about the fascinating natural history and human history of BC. Check the museum website for the tour schedule.

Included with admission

The Reach September 2020 – January 2021

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR EXHIBITION

Thunderbird Park, Royal BC Museum June 19–September 7

Showcasing a global selection of outstanding nature photography, the 55th Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition is a remarkable visual journey through the natural world.

Included with admission

Nanaimo Museum January–May 2021

LIVING CULTURES: SUMMER ARTISTS STUDIO

There’s something for everyone! Visit our calendar for more. rbcm.ca/calendar

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ROYAL BC MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES CONTACTS The Indigenous Collections and Repatriation 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 peoples access, research and connect with the information and objects in our museum and archives. Please get in touch with our team.

Lucy Bell

Head of Indigenous Collections and Repatriation Department

Lou-ann Neel

Repatriation Specialist lneel@royalbcmuseum. bc.ca 250-889-9674

Brian Seymour

Collections Manager

Sheila Sampson Collections Assistant

The Royal BC Museum is located on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen (Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations). We extend our appreciation for the opportunity to live and learn on this territory.

Sebastian Blackthorne

Grant Keddie

Curator of Archaeology

Archaeology Collections Manager We are always pleased to receive your inquires and try our best to respond in a timely manner. However, due to a current large volume of requests a reply may take longer than usual. Your patience is appreciated. royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/first-nations