Innholdsfortegnelse for 57.4 Winter 2024 i British Columbia History

1 To Be Seen, To Be Heard The summer reopening of the Museum of Anthropology couldn’t come soon enough for eager patrons. The Arthur Erickson–designed building that graces the UBC campus was closed for 18 months to undergo major seismic upgrades because the concrete pillars underpinning the Great Hall were at risk of tumbling in an earthquake. The closure was also an opportunity to consult with Indigenous communities and reinvigorate interpretation. To Be Seen, To Be Heard: First Nations in Public Spaces 1900–1965 is a new multimedia exhibition that explores how Indigenous people represented themselves in urban public spaces during the dark period of potlatch bans, cultural erasure, and restricted rights. Archival images of Indigenous people attending community parades, protests, tourist venues, and royal visits are projected on large screens while…

Ramona Mar and Susanna Ng in conversation with Aimee Greenaway Aimee Greenaway was excited to have a conversation with Ramona Mar and Susanna Ng from the Chinatown Storytelling Centre (CSC) in Vancouver Chinatown. They talked about the work of the CSC, revitalization efforts in Chinatown, and the importance of connecting the stories of people with Chinatown’s past, present, and future. Here is part of their conversation. Aimee Greenaway (AG) What is the role of the Chinatown Storytelling Centre in the community? Ramona Mar (RM) The Chinatown Storytelling Centre opened in November 2021 as an initiative of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation, and the Foundation’s goal is to revitalize Chinatown. The community has gone through tough times economically because of issues in the Downtown Eastside and challenges due to the impacts of Covid-19.…

Chinatowns and Coal Mines Nanaimo Chinatown, established in the 1860s, served as a hub for smaller nearby Chinese communities. The coal industry was a significant employer in Nanaimo and the surrounding region, and coal mining communities with Chinatowns sprung up in nearby Wellington, South Wellington, and Extension. In Extension, Chinese workers were integral members of the coal industry’s labour force, and they also worked in logging and sawmilling and operated essential businesses like stores, restaurants, boarding houses, laundries, and barber shops. Extension Chinatown had a significant population that demonstrated resilience and resistance to racism, as well as adaptability to major changes in the labour market when the local economy shifted from mining to the forest industry. Extension Chinatown The Extension mines were established in 1897, and the population grew from…

Happy birthday! Dear Editor, I have just received my copy of the new edition, and it made me feel that I may have a bit of BC history that you may be interested in. This year is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Nakusp Hot Springs. The village held a celebration of this event on October 19, 2024, and the Arrow Lakes Archives is working on documentation of the project. Allen Crockett Genelle, BC We missed the mark In our Fall 2024 issue, we spelled Timothy Fitzthum’s name incorrectly in our Table of Contents. We apologize to Tim for this oversight. Artists interpret history The Chinese Canadian Museum opened its new exhibit, Reshaping Collections: Where History Meets Art, in September 2024. This exhibit features unique art creations by…

When someone says the word “Chinatown,” a certain image comes to mind. In British Columbia, it is of Vancouver or Victoria’s streetscapes of narrow laneways or buildings of two- or three-storeys in height, recessed balconies, “Chinese” businesses and associations, as well as a gateway to signal to the visitor that they have arrived. Each of these Chinatowns holds a distinction in the Canadian context: Victoria as the oldest, Vancouver as the largest. Both are in populous urban centres. Historically, they were a hub for migration (or destination) and dispersal, as well as commerce. But many early immigrants to Canada sought opportunity and fortune outside Vancouver and Victoria (the reason that those early Chinese referred to their destination as Gold Mountain, Gum Saan).1 Their existence is represented in the historical record…

In 2015, we came across something surprising in the archive of our local newspaper, the Interior News: a reference to a local Chinatown. For context, the Bulkley Valley Museum is located on the territory of the Witsuwit’en (Wet’suwet’en) Nation1 in north-central British Columbia—a nearly 700-kilometre direct flight from Vancouver, or a 1,152-kilometre journey along the Cariboo Highway. The museum’s collection centres on the history of the town of Smithers and the surrounding area, known colonially as the Bulkley Valley. Smithers is a small town that was founded in 1913 as a divisional headquarters for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway being built from Winnipeg to the coastal town of Prince Rupert. Today Smithers has a population of roughly 5,500 people. While non-European culture—especially the Witsuwit’en, on whose territory the community sits—is…

The traditional name for my hometown of Prince Rupert means “water from clouds.” 1 In fact, it receives the most rainfall out of any city in Canada. Remote and not easy to reach by road or plane, Prince Rupert is located two hours by plane north of Vancouver on Kaien Island in Chatham Sound. Prince Rupert is nestled between stunning mountains. Anywhere you set foot into town, you can experience nature; a mountain stands literally behind my family home, and the beautiful Skeena River flows just minutes away from my former high school. This small town is located on the unceded territories of the Sm’algya̱x-speaking Ts’msyen (Tsimshian) peoples and is near dozens of Indigenous villages up and down the coast and on the Skeena River. A long history of trade…

In 1939, a reporter for the Province newspaper wrote a small piece on the special role of different language interpreters in Vancouver courts. He interviewed court translator Gordon Cumyow, the son of the legendary Won Alexander Cumyow.1 A serious topic arose, that of oaths sworn by Chinese witnesses. Cumyow, reflecting on his long career, recalled a case in Nelson a few years earlier, where Chinese litigants belonging to the Dart Coon Club of Chinese Freemasons “denuded the town and nearby country of roosters” to swear the so-called “chicken oath,” paying the hefty price of $2 a chicken.2 In Canada, the legal right of Chinese people to swear oaths and to testify was because of certain common-law precedents that held that anyone, not just White Christians, could swear an oath to…

[T]hroughout the tribe, people learned to live with one another; learned to serve one another; learned to respect the rights of one another. And children shared the thoughts of the adult world and found themselves surrounded by aunts and uncles and cousins who loved them and did not threaten them. Chief Dan George1 For those lucky enough, the summer of 1964 represented a time of innocence for us youth. But while we were dancing to “Dancing in the Street” by Martha and the Vandellas, it was a time of fervent social and political change for our leaders.2 Barely in our teens, we were oblivious to the changes going on outside of our time of innocence. A few years before that, during the late 1950s, twenty or so of us regularly…