Innholdsfortegnelse for 51.4 | Winter 2018 i British Columbia History

My Mother, My Teacher: The First Woss School Thank you!!! This is sooo interesting. I have never seen a full picture of the school! It’s so beautiful! Jane (Paton) Forin Now that’s the Woss I remember! Merci Mare Joel Paton Marg Nelson did a very accurate telling of the history. I was totally impressed that she could remember so much at such a young age. Bill Stewart Houston While reading the Fall 2018 issue Archives and Archivists about the Prince George Railway and Forestry Museum collection, I was reminded of newspaperman John Houston’s dispute with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Co. The company was well aware of Houston’s disdain for rail service in general (particularly C.P.R.) and tried to prevent him from buying a lot in Prince Rupert for his…

Each discharged soldier appeared before a medical board before being returned to Canada. These boards were comprised of three medical officers who took about 30 minutes to examine a man and complete forms documenting any disability, tests, specialist treatments, and other medical history.5 Invalided soldiers returning to Canada generally arrived in Halifax at Pier 2.6 During the winter, it was sometimes necessary to unload hospital patients at Portland, Maine, which also meant much less travel time to central Canada. A staff of 63 medical officers, 11 nursing sisters and 24 orderlies worked on the MHC’s various hospital trains. Each car could usually accommodate up to 25 cases. As the War drew to a close in 1918, a clearing services command was set up at each port through which troops passed into…

Individual actions can support language revitalization. Here are some suggestions. Consider the role you can play, as an individual, a parent or a community leader, whether you are First Nations or non-First Nations. ■¦ Learn more. Visit fpcc.ca to learn about language revitalization work in B.C. and visit the B.C. First Peoples’ Language Map maps.fpcf.ca ■¦ Visit the Royal BC Museum in Victoria to see the award-wining Our Living Languages exhibit that tells the story of BC First Nations languages. ■¦ Go to FirstVoices.com to browse the B.C. language archives or download a language app. ■¦ If you are near a university, see if you can take a First Nations language course. ■¦ Support the language champions in your community. Ask what you can do to help to develop a…

Every year we see the publication of more diverse books about British Columbia’s history, reflecting the expectations of readers and the interests of authors and historians. My eyes are drawn to titles on bookstore shelves that amplify underrepresented stories and people. In this issue, some of the books we review shine a light on these stories, including women who lived unconventional lives and opened up opportunities for future generations. Others expose the impacts of cultural discrimination, from diminished economic opportunities in the Fraser River fishery to internment in the First World War. In some ways, the most compelling books are published by community-based organizations. Their books are often collaborative and hold a mirror up to local stories that are considered the most important to record and share. And I’m always…

British Columbia is a big province and at times it can be hard to feel connected to people and places in other regions. History is a connector and one of the most rewarding things about this job is when a story connects people and evokes memories and stories. My mom, in Chilliwack, received a phone call from someone she has known from childhood. He lives in Courtenay now and wanted her to tell me that he had read “My Mother, My Teacher: The First Woss School” by Marg Nelson in the Summer 2018 issue and realized that a lady he is acquainted with is from Woss. He showed this lady the magazine and she found herself in the class photo and could identify a number of the other children. Chilliwack…

1. “Jean-Baptiste Boucher Biography,” Quesnel & District Museum & Archives, http://www.quesnelmuseum.ca/RiverofMemory/Frasers-Expedition/Waccan/boucher.html. 2. The 1828 date is from Pioneers of Bouchie Lake, Bouchie Lake Women’s Institute, 1975; the 1833 date is from A Tribute to the Past — Quesnel & Area, 1808–1928, Old Age Pensioner’s Organization, Branch #77, Quesnel, BC, 1985. 3. Bruce McIntyre Watson, “Allard, Joseph (b) (c. 1820 - c. 1873) (Canadian: French),” Lived West of the Divide: A Biographical Dictionary of Fur Traders Working West of the Rockies, 1793-1858, 166. Second source: Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2013. Series RG31. Statistics Canada Fonds: father listed as Alair, born in Manitoba, her origin as French. 4. “British Columbia Death Registrations, 1872-1986; 1992-1993”, William Walker Bouchie, 1924. “British Columbia Death Registrations, 1872-1986; 1992-1993”,…

A comprehensive survey of First Nations languages in BC reveals that all of the languages are facing severe threats to their vitality with the loss of aging fluent language speakers. Despite this finding, language experts are cautiously optimistic about the future thanks to a growing interest in Indigenous language revitalization among First Nations communities and an increasing number of people, especially younger individuals, who are learning and speaking these languages. The Report on the Status of B.C. First Nations Languages 2018 provides several examples of successful language revitalization efforts in First Nations communities. “BC is blessed with the richest diversity of Indigenous languages in Canada, which are an integral part of our shared national history and culture. Revitalizing these languages is important not only for Indigenous people but for all…

Do you have an old photograph with a story to tell? Contribute the photograph to British Columbia History magazine’s back page feature. We would like to encourage you help bring a photograph of the past to the present. Anyone can contribute a photograph! Please send your photograph of the past in the present to: bcheditor@bchistory.ca and include information on who or what is in the photograph and why it is important to you or your community. It could appear here on the back page.…