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The Curiosity

The Aboriginal Cultural Festival is an annual celebration of Aboriginal culture, values, language and cuisine. The festival is organized by Aboriginal Tourism BC in partnership with the Songhees Nation and Esquimalt Nation, on the grounds of the Royal BC Museum.

Interconnectedness in the Royal BC Museum

Introduction from the Editor In 2014 Lindsay Delaronde, a Iroquoise-Mohawk artist from the Kahnawake reserve, served as one of the artists in residence at the Royal BC Museum. She was involved in many different events throughout that year, such as …

The ancestors are calling

Anyone called by the ancestors knows the journey to reclaim the lost stories of those that came before us is not an easy path. It can, however, be very rewarding, especially when one finds jewels like the photos and articles …

Living languages

On my first visit to the Our Living Languages exhibition, I was curious to see how the Royal BC Museum and Archives would tell the stories of the languages that are Indigenous to these lands. As a professor of Indigenous …

Restoring balance: Reuniting Coast Salish art and oral history

As long as I can remember, I have watched my father William Good, Tseskinakhen, transform raw materials into works of art that transcend time and capture a glimpse into history. Being raised in an art studio in Nanaimo, BC, my …

Grounding knowledge

Before the arrival of settlers, ancestors of the Lower Nicola Indian Band (LNIB) members hunted, fished, gathered, trapped, travelled and lived in and around the Nicola Valley. Today, the community has 1,225 members, with about 66 per cent making less …

Pride in history

I have this childhood memory: a friend of my late grandmother Jane, sharing an old black-and-white photograph of a group of distinguished elderly Nisg̱a’a women. I remember being amazed by the memory and emotion it sparked in my grandmother. I …

Indigenous food sovereignty in the Peace

Introduction from the Editor When most people think about museums they think of items from the past, collections from history. Today in BC, many researchers are working to not only preserve the past but to help protect the future. In …

Awakening memory

As an artist and curator of Kanien’kehá:ka and French ancestry, I have always had a contentious relationship with museums. After all, they have played a critical role in the colonial project across Canada. Based on the misconception that Indigenous cultures …

It is good to feel things

It was a promise of a new time, a new relationship offered up, and we were eager and excited to be a part of it. When, if ever, did the thick bass sounds of a pow wow drum reverberate through …