Spring 2019
INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES MATTER CELEBRATING THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES PARADISE LOST DISASTER RELIEF AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF BRAZIL OF BEASTS AND BEACHES HAKAI INSTITUTE TERRESTRIAL BIOBLITZ 2018
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SPRING 2019 FEATURE Have Language, Will Travel FEATURE Indigenous Languages Matter A Journey Begins INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Paradise Lost Unlocking History FEATURE Alpine Biodiversity Fieldwork High and Dry Of Beasts and Beaches Much to Learn GOING DIGITAL Curiouser and Curiouser Skates on Ice PARTNERSHIP PROFILE Reawakening of a Silent Symbol Voice of the Forest VOLUNTEER PROFILE Bob Clark Need a Lift? PARTNERSHIP PROFILE Making Our Research Fly What’s On Every Gift Helps
E DITOR IN CHIEF Erika Stenson Head of Marketing, Sales & Business Development
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MANAGING EDITOR Jennifer Vanderzee Marketing & Sales Manager
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MAGAZINE COORDINATOR Cassie Holcomb Membership & Marketing Coordinator
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Erik Lambertson Corporate Communications Manager Nathan Oickle 2D Graphic Designer
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Annie Mayse Editor
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Shane Lighter Photographer
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What’s inSight is an electronic magazine released four times annually, in March, June, September and December, by the Royal BC Museum.
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In the interest of keeping our administrative costs low—and our carbon footprint small—this print version is also provided to members in digital format at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/magazine To switch your What’s inSight subscription preference from print to digital format, please email membership@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca or call 250-387-3287.
COVER IMAGE Takaya Tours, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, North Vancouver.
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Dear friends, The Royal British Columbia Museum places answering the needs of Indigenous peoples among its highest priorities. Supported by a high-level advisory body with a broad mandate to address Indigenous issues at the museum and the archives, the museum has moved assertively to return the ancestral remains and sacred pieces in its care and has created new contemporary displays in the First Peoples gallery. As we look to revitalize our Natural History gallery, one of our larger challenges is how to incorporate Indigenous knowledge equitably alongside other knowledge systems as part of the visitor experience. Indigenous people have over the course of many generations developed a rich knowledge of ecosystems, health, technologies, rituals, cultural expressions and the natural world. The challenge that confronts us now is how to gather and translate this knowledge into meaningful displays, travelling exhibitions and publications. Later in the summer we will launch our first travelling exhibition on Indigenous languages in British Columbia. Indigenous language revitalization continues to be an urgent provincial and global priority. We look forward to reporting on our progress in these pages. Yours,
Professor Jack Lohman CBE Chief Executive Officer, Royal BC Museum A new contemporary display in the First Peoples gallery.
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FEATURE
Have Language, Will Travel Preparing Our Living Languages for the Road By Erik Lambertson, Corporate Communications Manager
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n his busy basement office, Michael Barnes pivots from his desk and spreads a series of vivid 3D renderings of the new travelling version of Our Living Languages: First Peoples’ Voices in British Columbia onto a nearby table. As the head of Exhibitions, Michael has been working for the past year or so to develop a scaled-down version of the award-winning exhibition, created in partnership with the First Peoples’ Cultural Council and presently a permanent, popular fixture of the Royal BC Museum’s third floor.
The travelling version will tidily fit into a roughly one hundred square metre space. This makes it a manageable and appealing feature for smaller regional museums and interpretive centres across BC. And the desire to host it is already very clear. “More than a dozen museums and Indigenous communities have already expressed interest in hosting it,” Barnes says, pointing out some of the show’s most elegant features. The traveller is colourful and vibrant, like its full-scale original. It’s also a thing of conceptual (and practical) beauty, as it contains all the content of the original exhibition, with the exception of the artifacts from the Royal BC Museum’s permanent collections. Distilling the material into a travelling format wasn’t as logistically challenging 2
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as you might first assume. The original is a 21st-century exhibition, rich with multimedia. This has been relatively easy to reformat into portable touchscreen language maps and monitors, interactive listening stations, audio recordings and video content. Many of the signature exhibitry pieces have also been scaled down. For example, the cradleboard theatre, in its original incarnation capable of holding six people in a soft cocoon of lullaby and song, is now a modestly scaled and companionable version, fitting two visitors perfectly. Anticipating and responding to community needs is a major theme at the Royal BC Museum. The development of this traveller is no exception: it helps satisfy a long-articulated desire among regional museums across BC to feature more Indigenous content. And 2019 is an appropriate date to launch the travelling exhibition, as it marks UNESCO’s International Year of Indigenous Languages. The travelling exhibition will be ready in June 2019. For more information about the Our Living Languages traveller, especially regarding booking, please contact Kate Kerr, the travelling exhibits coordinator, at travelling@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
FEATURE
Indigenous Languages Matter Celebrating the International Year of Indigenous Languages By Lucy Bell, Head of Indigenous Collections and Repatriation
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f approximately seven thousand languages in the world, almost half are endangered. The United Nations, which has declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages, says that “Indigenous languages matter for sustainable development, peace building and reconciliation,” as well as for myriad other reasons. We couldn’t agree more.
language revitalization to study these valuable recordings of songs, stories and vocabularies and to digitally repatriate them to the people who need them most. We also look forward to continuing our partnership with the FPCC and to participating in the Heliset Tte skal: Let Our Languages Live language conference in Victoria from June 24 to 26.
British Columbia is a hotbed of Indigenous languages; 34 are spoken here, with more than 93 distinct dialects. According to the 2018 report on the status of BC First Nations languages, prepared by the First Peoples’ Cultural Council (FPCC), there are a growing number of Indigenous-language learners in BC, but there is still a great loss of knowledge as aging speakers pass away. More than half of the fluent speakers of Indigenous languages here are over 65 years old. To prevent the loss of their languages, we must take immediate action, and museums can be a part of the solution.
Our Living Languages, the award-winning language exhibition created in partnership with the FPCC, is a celebration of the Indigenous languages in BC. We realize that many Indigenous people have not had the opportunity to come to Victoria to see Our Living Languages, and we are creating a travelling version of this important exhibition suitable for display in Indigenous communities throughout the province.
The Royal BC Museum and Archives has a vast collection of linguistic recordings of Indigenous speakers from throughout BC and Alaska. The museum acknowledges the importance of these recordings and our role in language revitalization by digitizing and distributing them. This year, we look forward to holding a workshop with graduate students in Indigenous
T akaya Tours, Tsleil-Waututh Nation, North Vancouver.
As the head of the Indigenous Collections and Repatriation Department, I am of course deeply involved with all the museum’s repatriation work, but language revitalization is something particularly close to my heart. I received a master’s in Indigenous language revitalization in 2016. In 2017, I left my Haida community and my work with the Haida language to join the museum. It is so rewarding and so meaningful for me to be able to continue my work with language revitalization with the unique opportunities offered by my new role. Kiilang sk’at’geik. uu kilganggang. Waayaat hl kiilang sk’at’aa! It is important to learn your language. Learn your language now!
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FEATURE
A Journey Begins Indigenizing the BC Archives By Emma Wright, Archives Manager
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n 2015 the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada issued 94 Calls to Action. A small number were specifically aimed at Canadian museums and archives, but many indirectly affect the work that such institutions do. The Royal BC Museum published an official response to the TRC’s report in 2016. The TRC Calls to Action initiated a shift in how we operate, one visible, we hope, in all parts of the museum, in particular in our Indigenous Collections and Repatriation department. In 2018 archivist Genevieve Weber published a paper in BC Studies about Indigenizing the BC Archives and our response to the calls. Some tangible examples of our work at the BC Archives are detailed below.
• Since 2012 the BC Archives has been digitally repatriating records to communities. The first documents to be digitized and shared were the Vancouver Island Treaties (MS0772), which we repatriated to their signatory nations. We provide copies of relevant records to Indigenous families and communities on request. INDIGENOUS RESEARCH SUPPORT • In 2016 we established an Indigenous cultural heritage program to provide Indigenous communities and individuals with reproductions of records (photographs, textual records, sound recordings and other items) documenting their cultural heritage free of charge.
DIGITIZATION • In summer 2017, we began to systematically digitize the linguistics recordings from the Ethnology collection, starting with those requested by communities. So far, 1,450 recordings have been preserved and shared with BC communities. • We are scanning the Indigenous Collections and Repatriation department’s collection of more than 25,000 photographs as part of a multiyear project that began in May 2018. Digital images will be added to the museum’s collections management database to increase accessibility for communities and researchers. 4
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COLLECTIONS • In March 2018 the Ida Halpern collection (PR-0847) and the Vancouver Island Treaties (MS-0772) were inscribed on the Canadian Commission for UNESCO Canada Memory of the World register. Both these collections have great significance for Indigenous communities. • We are working on identifying and sharing information about residential schools held at the BC Archives, and we aim to publish a reference guide to help those researching residential schools in BC. We are also collaborating with the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre at the University of British Columbia and the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation in Winnipeg regarding this material.
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OUTREACH • In November 2018, we partnered with Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and the Greater Victoria Public Library to run a workshop on Indigenous genealogical research. It explained the records and sources available at both LAC and the BC Archives, and it was so popular that we added a second session. • Throughout the year, we visit Indigenous communities across the province to speak about the BC Archives and to answer people’s questions. In 2018 we attended the BC Elders Gathering in Duncan and the Ktunaxa Nation Council Annual General Assembly, among others.
POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOLS • The BC Archives has been working with the Indigenous Collections and Repatriation department to revise our policies regarding Indigenous access to collections. • Staff at the BC Archives are involved in external research projects focusing on Indigenous information, records and access to cultural heritage. Involvement in provincial and national research initiatives informs our own policies, protocols and procedures regarding access to information for Indigenous visitors.
• One of our goals for 2019 is to Indigenize our online BC Archives Collections Search. We are creating a descriptive framework that incorporates traditional knowledge, cultural restrictions and Indigenous languages into our collections entries. Since 2017 we have been updating index terms to ensure that records with Indigenous content are indexed correctly and thus easier to find. If we wish to move forward together, the settlers among us need to be humble, to listen and to be willing to reconsider our actions and intentions based on the real needs and desires of Indigenous people. Often achieving consensus is tricky, and consultation takes time. But if it takes time, it takes time. Respect often does.
1. Selection of archival materials and copies of records on display at the BC Elders Gathering, Duncan, July 2018. 2. P articipants attending the Indigenous genealogy workshop, presented in partnership with Library and Archives Canada and Greater Victoria Public Library, November 24, 2018.
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INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Paradise Lost Disaster Relief at the National Museum of Brazil By Prof. Jack Lohman CBE, Chief Executive Officer
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ype “National Museum Rio” into your search box and images will appear of a grand colonial palace standing in the middle of a lush tropical park—a perfect, picturebook museum. If you could step inside that building, you would be inundated with objects: artifacts linked to Brazil’s royalty, clocks, velvet damasks, satins, coats of arms; objects and specimens collected during great journeys into Brazil’s interior; maps and drawings, archives and Indigenous treasures; natural history specimens in vibrant greens and vivid blues. Were you extend your visit to the upper floors, you would discover Egyptian mummies, archaeological treasures and objects from the beginning of time— things of every colour, made from rare woods, exotic stones, gold and silver, palms and grasses, even birds’ feathers. You would be able to say you had visited the greatest museum in Brazil and one of the greatest museums in the world. Tragically, such a place no longer exists, at least not in this form. On Sunday, September 2, 2018, a raging fire swept through the museum. Museum staff worked desperately to salvage what artifacts and documents they could as an event of traumatic proportions unfolded around them. Within hours floors had collapsed, and in spite of the best efforts to save everything possible, the museum was lost. It was a national tragedy. Around the world the museum and archive community
was left shocked and speechless that such an event could take place. Within hours news of the fire reached Canada. When you have lost everything, you are at a complete loss. The museum became a crime scene, closed to all but police officers and a handful of staff. The structure itself was unsafe. But almost immediately, the museum came up with its own rescue plan. Alongside the burnt-out building a forensic archaeology processing centre was set up in temporary pavilions, where debris could be sifted and sorted. Teams under the director, Dr. Cristiana Serejo, and former director Professor Claudia RodriguesCarvalho began their work, and the museum once more took on an atmosphere of great professionalism and of hope. Meanwhile, staff began exploring options for revitalization. Canada has a long history of supporting others in moments of crisis. My favourite example of such support is Canada’s 1939 decision to take in more than three hundred evacuated Polish national treasures from Wawel Castle in Krakow, including Poland’s ancient coronation sword and regalia, Chopin’s manuscripts and a Gutenberg Bible. These were cared for in Canada throughout the Second World War and returned to Poland after the war had
A firefighter at the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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ended. I was delighted that the museum and archives community here wished to respond to the disastrous fire in Brazil. But how could we assist? What could we offer? Collaborating with the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, the Canadian Museums Association, Library and Archives Canada and the Brazilian Embassy in Canada, the Royal British Columbia Museum has forged an expert support network in Canada for the Rio museum that will work with UNESCO’s emergency team, ensuring a joined-up approach. This team will assist the museum in mapping areas where we can add value and make a difference. There are two principal types of support that are currently required. First, the museum in Rio has requested assistance in the identification and conservation of archival materials—that is, in determining what approach to take to badly burnt papers. Second, they require support in fundraising internationally for new collections. Beyond these avenues of assistance lies the possibility of sharing approaches to contemporary curatorship that respect the rights and interests of Indigenous stakeholders and recognize Indigenous world views, spirituality and cultural continuity.
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We will continue to do everything possible to ensure our friends and colleagues in Rio de Janeiro feel supported. While our support may appear modest when considered among the efforts of the many other world-class museums involved, it is genuine, and the kind that inspires us all.
1. Former director Professor Claudia RodriguesCarvalho and Deputy Director Cristiana Serejo (second and third from left) show Evelyne Coulombe, Canadian Consul-General, (left) and Professor Jack Lohman the painstaking work to sift through the rubble at the Museu Nacional. 2. T he work to sift through the burned-out Museu Nacional will take three to five years.
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Unlocking History Stories of Residential School Suffering By Erik Lambertson, Corporate Communications Manager
reflects an authoritarian perspective from another era.
keys, stripped of context, generated an equally worthwhile conversation.
The mini-display also contains contemporary curatorial text, which is far more neutral, by Royal BC Museum staff. But the overall impact of the keys and text is charged, painful and tragic.
I confess that when I first saw the posting and initial responses on Twitter, I was worried: I was apprehensive that people would confuse the original text with the text by the museum, and worse—confuse presentation with endorsement.
You often see visitors having a hard time absorbing the story. Hands move to open mouths and hands reach for other hands. In this damning reflection of BC history, the artifacts have a visceral impact. Reckoning with the past feels like a punch to the gut.
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ur Living Languages is an inviting exhibition that celebrates the revitalization of Indigenous languages in BC. But there’s a jagged island in the middle of it: a section designed to be visually and emotionally jarring, which explains how colonial policies and agents disrupted the transmission of Indigenous languages between generations. A significant part of this story is about the impact of residential schools. To help reflect the perspectives of the children who endured the residential school system, the display features two latch keys. Starving children at residential schools in Kamloops and on Kuper Island fashioned the keys from utensils so they could break into the locked-up food stores and feed themselves. The keys aren’t the sole historical piece in this mini-display—the explanatory plaque from the time of acquisition is also an artifact. The language on the plaque
It’s one thing to look at the artifacts and read the explanatory panel text while you are in the exhibition. You’re surrounded by contextual information. But things can take an unexpected turn on social media. This summer a museum visitor, Joanne Hammond, took a photo of the latch keys and original descriptive plaque and posted them to her Twitter account with a description and a pointed question: “Did that happen where you went to school?” What happened next was remarkable. Her tweet generated an enormous amount of online conversation and sharing. It was retweeted 1,000 times. (It also opened the door to trolling and racism—the price we often pay for engaging with contemporary issues on Twitter.)
But as our team responded, and others weighed in with their comments, a fruitful and surprisingly moving conversation began online. The most powerful responses were from people sharing their family experience of residential schools. The Kamloops and Kuper Island keys are the focus of an awful, heartbreaking and necessary display. We should all take the time to think about what these children endured, even if it is deeply upsetting. It’s also deeply satisfying to consider their strength and ingenuity. These kids were resilient, and I’m certain I’m not the only one to admire their resistance against the system forced upon them. I hope they made it. I hope they endured. I hope we never forget what they experienced at the hands of others.
L atch keys featured in the Disruption section of the Our Living Languages exhibition.
Most visitors to the exhibition are focused on language revitalization, an excellent movement worth celebrating. But on social media, the photo of the
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FEATURE
Alpine Biodiversity Fieldwork Collections from Biologically Undocumented Mountains By Ken Marr, Curator of Botany, and Claudia Copley, Entomology Collections Manager
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very year, Royal BC Museum staff visit previously unstudied areas in BC’s alpine to collect specimens. We collect for many reasons. Specimens document the presence of a particular species at a specific place and time, which can be critically important for conservation efforts. Learning more about the distribution of species helps us understand the
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landscape’s history. Habitat information collected along with the specimens provides insight into their ecology. Museum specimens are used to document the various attributes of known species, and occasionally species new to science are discovered among collections made years earlier. And there may be future uses for these specimens that we can’t predict. Decades ago no one knew that
museum specimens would one day be used in DNA studies, but these have proven invaluable for taxonomy and conservation research, as well as many other lines of inquiry. This year four Royal BC Museum scientists and one museum research associate visited six mountains, three near Tumbler Ridge and three in the northern Rockies just east of the Williston Reservoir.
We are grateful for the help of several sponsors and partners. Pacific Coastal Airlines flew us to Prince George, and Highland Helicopters took us to our remote collecting sites. BC Parks assisted with grants from their Park Enhancement Fund for visits we made to two mountains in Graham Laurier Provincial Park and one in Monkman Provincial Park. At Mount Whitford we were joined by two staff members and a contract photographer from the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y) and their guest, freelance journalist Molly Segal. In October Molly featured our fieldwork on CBC’s science program Quirks and Quarks and on National Public Radio in the United States. At a mountain northwest of Wapiti Lake, we were joined by two staff members from the UNESCO Tumbler Ridge Geopark—an area recognized as having internationally
significant geological heritage. Both Y2Y
Every year we encounter botanical
and the Geopark contributed funding
surprises—plants unexpected in a given
towards our helicopter costs.
area or even species that we have not
At each mountain we set up camp for two to three days and collected specimens of
seen before in BC. This year, we collected a specimen of northern shootingstar (Dodecatheon frigidum) in Graham Laurier
every species we encountered, aiming
Provincial Park, about 200 kilometres south
to reach as many different habitats as possible. To accomplish this, we hiked long distances every day, often up and down steep slopes. Plant specimens were pressed in newsprint and dried in the field (see exhibit fabrication specialist Colin Longpre’s story about our plant specimen dryer, page
of where it has previously been found. We have visited eight mountains in the area between the two collection sites and have not encountered this species. Have we merely overlooked it, or is it really absent from this 200 kilometre space? If so, why?
13). Insects were collected in pan traps and
Another interesting find was western
Malaise traps, as well as by hand and in
spring beauty (Claytonia lanceolata), which
nets; they were either pinned in the field
we haven’t seen in the alpine before.
or processed later at the museum. Spiders
Indigenous people in the southern interior
were captured with an aspirator (also known
of British Columbia traditionally eat the
as a “pooter”) and preserved in ethanol.
tubers both fresh and cooked.
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1. Research Associate Robb Bennett ‘pooting’ spiders in Monkman Provincial Park. 2. A species of wax cup mushrooms growing in a meadow near Mount Crysdale.
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We have also been collaborating with a mushroom expert at the BC Ministry of Environment by preserving tissue from fungi in alcohol for DNA sequencing, accompanied by photographs of the mushrooms in situ. With our help, she has documented nearly 50 species of mushroom that occur in the BC alpine, 8 of which are new to science—all from only a few mountains. At almost every site we visited this year, we found rare and elusive ice crawlers (grylloblattids). These remarkably coldtolerant insects were discovered in 1914 by a Canadian entomologist. They are wingless, so many species have very small distribution
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ranges. Happiest between 1° and 4°C, they live in cold habitats at high elevations, in deeper, cooler soils near snowfields and glaciers, and avoid daytime heat by being active at night. Most species die at temperatures above 10°C, and almost all species are considered at risk because of rising global temperatures due to climate change. We are often asked if we notice any effects of global warming during our fieldwork. For a number of years we have noticed populations of small trees in alpine meadows; few if any are dead. These populations are relatively young. Because the elevation of the treeline is controlled by temperature, one likely consequence of the planet warming is that
forests will advance into the alpine, reducing the available habitat for alpine organisms. Our work documents the present diversity in these alpine habitats, important for evaluating the risks of global warming. Fieldwork by Royal BC Museum scientists makes a significant contribution to understanding the plants and animals living in the territories of Indigenous people as well as on lands managed by BC Parks and conservation organizations. Sharing what we learn with these stakeholders is a key part of our work.
Claudia Copley pinning insects.
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High and Dry An Inventive Idea Becomes Reality
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By Colin Longpre, Exhibit Fabrication Specialist
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n 2008 Ken Marr, the Royal BC Museum’s curator of botany, asked me to solve a problem. He needed a way to quickly dry plant specimens collected and pressed during fieldwork. In the past, the museum’s botanists had used the hair dryers in their hotel rooms to dry specimens, but it was inconvenient: it took several days, for one thing. Besides, it only worked when they had access to electricity—not great for a team that often camps out in remote ecosystems accessible only by helicopter.
multiple specimens could be dried and then removed in a short period of time. He also needed the dryer to be compact and light for helicopter travel. After some discussion and sketching, we came up with an idea. I built an easily dismantled metal box around a propane-fuelled camp heater. The box consisted of four pieces of strategically folded sheet metal, with a top and bottom made of metal mesh. The heater was placed on the bottom shelf and the plant press on the top.
Ken wanted a portable dryer that could dry specimens quickly in the field, so that
The dryer worked great, but there was room for improvement. It was somewhat
heavy and difficult to set up on uneven terrain. I came up with a new version made of aluminum, with all the corners hinged together. The new dryer box opens up origami style and can be set up easily on uneven ground using wooden blocks. It works the same way as the old one, but there’s still room for improvement. On to version three.
1. P ortable plant dryer in use during the 2016 BC alpine collection trip. 2. F ield work requires lots of equipment—a light weight dryer is essential.
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1. West Beach on Calvert Island. 2. A blue steel barnacle fly (Oedoparena glauca) on Joel Gibson’s finger.
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FEATURE
Of Beasts and Beaches Hakai Institute Terrestrial Bioblitz 2018 By Dr. Joel Gibson, Curator of Entomology
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eep in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest, in the traditional territory of the Heiltsuk and Wuikinuxv peoples, lies Calvert Island, the home base of the Hakai Institute. In June 2018 I travelled there to participate in a bioblitz—a broad survey of “all terrestrial life” on the island. Fortunately, I wasn’t alone: the organizers from the University of Victoria (Dr. Brian Starzomski, Sara Wickham and Gillian Sadlier-Brown) had assembled an expert team of botanists, lichenologists, ornithologists, general naturalists and other entomologists like me.
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Calvert Island is an hour and a half from Campbell River by float plane, about halfway between the northern tip of Vancouver Island and the southern tip of Haida Gwaii. From the moment we stepped off the plane, we began identifying as
many of the species inhabiting the island as possible. The next seven days were spent traversing the island’s northwestern beaches, hiking to inland hilltops and scouring lagoons at low tide. Everywhere we went we collected insects, as well as plants, spiders and lichens. Others observed and recorded vertebrates. Evenings were spent carefully preparing the specimens gathered each day. A lab full of equipment and enthusiastic staff allowed us to identify specimens, photograph them and extract tissue, which will be sent to the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics at the University of Guelph. There, DNA will be extracted and sequenced to aid in identifying and cataloguing global species—a process known as DNA barcoding. The week was beautiful and tiring, but it was also extremely productive. The insect and spider specimens, more than 1,300 in total, are now part of the entomology collection at the Royal BC Museum. We are now working to identify them as specifically as possible. This single week of fieldwork will give us a snapshot of the insects and spiders inhabiting a special portion of British Columbia’s central coast. They could help us to answer any number of questions about the patterns of biodiversity in our province and the forces that affect those patterns. Stay tuned for future analyses of these data.
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Much to Learn A New View of the Maya People By Janet MacDonald, Head of Learning
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he exhibition Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises is a journey that explores the cultural achievements of the Maya people, past and present, on a grand scale. Our committed and energetic Learning team is already hard at work creating an intriguing array of visitor experiences for you. Fortunately, with such a wonderful exhibition to build on, they aren’t lacking for inspiration! Kicking off the series of events is a distinguished lecture by codebreaker Dr. Nikolai Grube, an expert in the field of Maya epigraphy (the study of inscriptions and text) and curator of this special exhibition. On May 16, he’ll offer his perspective on Maya culture garnered from his decades of archaeological work in Guatemala, Honduras and Belize, followed by an early-access visit to the exhibition ahead of the official opening on May 17, 2019. As this article goes to press, the Learning team is reaching out to Maya people living here in BC for their perspectives. The first five Maya families in Vancouver arrived as refugees in 1985. Since their arrival this growing community has continued to pass their cultural heritage, language and knowledge of the land down through the generations and to advocate for social justice in their ancestral homeland. Their history and experiences will be integral to a number of Learning programs this year, from our participation in an Indigenous language symposium in June to Maya inspired youth and adult summer camps, workshops, sleepovers and a community discussion that interrogates the serious ongoing threats to the contemporary Maya culture in Central America today. 16
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Distinguished Lecture Maya: Rediscovering Three Thousand Years of History By Dr. Nikolai Grube, University of Bonn Our image of Maya culture has changed radically in recent decades. Learn more about the development of the Maya from 1000 BCE until today and how our understanding of Maya civilization has changed through new research. This lecture also includes exclusive pre-opening access to the Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises exhibition. May 16 I 7:00–10:00 pm Reserve your place today at RBCM.CA/CALENDAR
GOING DIGITAL
Curiouser and Curiouser A Digital Revival By Annie Mayse, Editor
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ack in 2014, when the museum’s digital team set out to launch an online quarterly exploring untold stories from our collections, they knew they needed a catchy name to pique the interest of both dedicated museum supporters and a new audience of online readers. They came up with Curious—a clever twist of a title, sure to evoke the feeling it describes. Curious: inquisitive, inquiring, eager to learn. Curious: peculiar, singular, strange. Latinists will recognize the ultimate root cura : care or attention. It’s from the same root that we take “curio” and, of course, “curate”— appropriate, for a museum publication.
Since its inception Curious has been many things to many people: a platform for museum staff to examine the themes that guide their work, a gallery of exceptional photographs dredged from archival depths, a sounding board for voices too often silenced in museum narratives. It is in this last role that Curious has for the moment settled, offering new perspectives on familiar historical vistas. The upcoming spring 2019 issue of Curious, curated by guest editor Sharanjit Sandhra of the South Asian Studies Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), will explore the work of the Punjabi Canadian
Legacy Project, an initiative collaboratively supported by the Royal BC Museum, UFV and community partners across the province. We hope you’ll join us as we examine the history of the Indo Canadian experience in BC and its presence in, and absence from, the Royal BC Museum. The new issue will be available online in April. In the meantime, satisfy your curiousity with the Curious archives at curious.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
Naveen Girn participates in the first gallery intervention highlighting Punjabi heritage.
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Skates on Ice New Species Found in BC Waters By Gavin Hanke, Curator of Vertebrate Zoology
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n a country where hockey news dominates, you might think that a phrase like “skates on ice” referred to the game. Sorry, Canada. My skates are the fishy variety—and they usually arrive frozen. Most people have heard of stingrays and manta rays, but skates are the underdogs of the cartilaginous fishes. A skate has the general shape of a stingray, but instead of a single barbed spine on the tail, skates are festooned with nasty thorns. Skate thorns are enlarged scales, and they can cut through your skin like a hot knife through butter.
Dots on this drawing highlight the thorns over a skate’s body: orbital thornletts (red), nuchals (green), suprascapulars (dark blue), scapulars (orange), mid-dorsals (pale blue), malars (yellow, males only) and alars (magenta, males only). The number and placement of thorns help us identify skates. In many species, the belly is smooth. Trawlers like the retired CCGS W.E. Ricker are the only way we can collect deep-sea skates effectively. In 2005, a skate was caught in BC with fine scales all over its belly. This skate, originally identified as Bathyraja abyssicola (the deepsea skate), had DNA suggesting similarity to Bathyraja spinicauda (the spinytail skate) from the Atlantic. Clearly more study was needed—but I put it off for years. Who wants to work on an oily, slippery, coffee-table-sized fish that can lacerate you better than a well-wielded cat-o-nine-tails, even while dead?
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Procrastination ended in 2017, when colleagues from NOAA (the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) asked me to measure the mysterious specimen catalogued as RBCM 16121 and lock down its identity. After careful study, this fish was re-identified as Bathyraja spinosissima (the Pacific white skate). It was new to BC. My US colleagues have additional specimens and could now say something meaningful about this fish’s distribution: it ranges from Costa Rica through Oregon, BC and the Kuril Islands to the Sea of Okhotsk. Why had we never caught this species before? Remotely operated vehicle footage shows that Pacific white skates swim about 1 metre above jagged rocks at depths of 800 to 2,938 metres. Dropping a trawl net over rocks is asking for a snag, so we had
undersampled this fish’s typical habitat. By chance, the lone Pacific white skate we’d caught strayed over soft seabed. It’s now the only specimen of an adult male Pacific white skate in a museum collection. For the first time we could describe features like its claspers—the double-barrelled reproductive organ missing from Mr. Ray in Finding Nemo. Our Pacific white skate was the first new skate species in British Columbia in 2005 and an impressive specimen all round. But why did the new fish’s DNA show similarity to Atlantic skates and not to Pacific white skates? Because the tissue sample we’d submitted for analysis was the first DNA barcode for its species—there were no other DNA samples of Pacific white skates for comparison. Five other skates were caught southwest of Tofino in 2005, at depths between 1,939 and 1,951 metres. They were tentatively identified as cf. Bathyraja violacea (the Okhotsk skate)—in biology, cf. is a way of saying “sort of like”. After close inspection by Jay Orr and Duane Stevenson of NOAA, these five turned out to be Bathyraja microtrachys (five-spined skates). We knew that five-spined skates occurred from Washington south to San Diego at depths of 1,995 to 2,900 metres, but ours were the first from Canadian waters and the
only known adult male specimens of the species. A third new skate for BC appeared in 2009 and was studied by Jackie King, Sandy McFarlane and Tyler Zubkowski of the Pacific Biological Station in Nanaimo. The female skate came from Queen Charlotte Sound and was identified as Bathyraja lindbergi (the commander skate). Until now, this species was known to live as far south as the Alexander Archipelago in Alaska. The discovery of this species in British Columbia extends the species’ range south at least 600 kilometres. Is the appearance of these new fishes related to global warming? I’ll skate around the issue by saying that these fishes were netted in deep water. Climate warming will impact our shallow-water communities before the cold dark depths. I think what these records really highlight is the hit-andmiss nature of deep-sea sampling. There are still big discoveries to be made off the BC coast.
1. Coloured dots on this drawing highlight thorn groups used to identify skate species. Modified from Norman Eyolfson’s original drawings. 2. The retired CCGS W.E. Ricker. 3. Bathyraja microtrachys, five-spined skate. RBCM 005-0137-004.
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royalbcmuseum.bc.ca 19 Spring 2019
PARTNERSHIP PROFILE
Reawakening of a Silent Symbol Britannia Mine Museum Brings Back a Resounding Icon By Greg Frame, Britannia Mine Museum
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n November 1, 1974, Britannia Mine and its iconic Mill no. 3—which hugs the side of a mountain in Britannia Beach, BC, 45 minutes north of Vancouver—shut down after 70 years of operation, leaving a disquieting silence. Gone were the grinding of machinery, the shouts of workers, the boom of ore hitting metal chutes—all the comforting sounds that meant the mine was working, the mineworkers could support their families and the community was vibrant. Despite its rich history and designation as a National Historic Site, Mill no. 3 remains an enigma. Visitors can tell you about the experience of standing inside the awe-inspiring structure, but the power of imagination only takes them so far. What was the Mill’s purpose? How exactly did it
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function? What was it like to work in when it was operating at full capacity? All of this presented the Britannia Mine Museum with a unique challenge: how could we preserve the integrity of the Mill while engaging visitors with an authentic experience? Our answer: immerse visitors in an entertaining, story-rich show inside the actual Mill. The Mill Show Experience, launching in 2019, will introduce visitors to an engineering marvel and the many emotions it instills. Enlightening and surprising, the captivating special-effects show brings the historic Mill building back to life. It will transport visitors back in time for a multi-sensory adventure, taking advantage of the Mill’s sheer 20-storey size.
“We are excited to share the significant role [the Mill] played in BC’s and Canada’s history and economic success,” says Kirstin Clausen, executive director of the Britannia Mine Museum. “We are particularly excited to be working with VISTA Collaborative Arts and Dynamic Attractions because of their international experience with building destination attractions.” The project wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the mining industry, the museum community and the government of Canada. 1. Concept artwork for the museum’s Mill Show Experience. 2. Mill no.3 along the Sea-to-Sky highway. 3. The cathedral-like interior of Mill no.3.
SAVE ON SELECT BOOKS for Royal BC Museum members only
THE LANGUAGE OF FAMILY Stories of Bonds and Belonging edited by Michelle van der Merwe $27.95 $19.95 for members
EMILY CARR IN ENGLAND by Kathryn Bridge $27.95 $19.95 for members
OUT OF THE MIST Treasures of the Nuu-chah-nulth Chiefs by Martha Black $39.95 $19.95 for members
MUSEUMS AT THE CROSSROADS Essays on Cultural Institutions in a Time of Change (hardcover) by Jack Lohman $29.95 $19.95 for members
TREASURES of the Royal British Columbia Museum and Archives by Jack Lohman $39.95 $24.95 for members
Use coupon code InSightSPR19 when you check out. Only through May 31, 2019.
Get your copy today at rbcm.ca/memberbooks
Voice of the Forest Bringing the Great Bear Rainforest to IMAX Theatres By Ian McAllister, Executive Director of Pacific Wild
I first visited the Great Bear Rainforest nearly 30 years ago as part of my work in forest conservation. I had heard about the rainforest’s pristine watersheds, the ancient First Nations communities and the old-growth forests that stretched intact for countless miles, and I wanted to see for myself this magical place hidden from the outside world. Little did I know that my week-long trip would turn into a lifelong passion. From the very beginning, visual storytelling has been a foundation of our conservation work at Pacific Wild, and when it comes to showcasing the natural 22
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world—and inspiring people to care— nothing is more impressive than the biggest screen of all. Making an IMAX film is not an easy thing to do—especially not in the rugged, remote wilderness of the Great Bear Rainforest, where the only access is by boat or seaplane. But as technology advances, what was impossible even five years ago is suddenly within reach. For the past three years, my filmmaking team and I have spent countless hours in the rainforest, documenting this wildlife-rich
world and capturing intimate sequences, including some never-before-filmed animal behaviours. Our film stars are the spirit bears, grizzlies, coastal wolves, sea otters and humpbacks who call this place home, as well as the herring and salmon upon which all life in the forest depends. We also introduce audiences to members of the coastal First Nations who have safeguarded this forest for millenia and who are stepping forward to take responsibility for its future. My desire in making this film is to offer a
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voice for the rainforest itself. The Great Bear Rainforest remains one of our greatest opportunities for large scale conservation. We can still protect this place if enough people are inspired to care about it. I hope that people will leave IMAX theatres with a sense of real hope, knowing that places so valuable ecologically and culturally still exist—and that all of us have a voice to ensure their future.
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Great Bear Rainforest is on now at IMAX Victoria. Royal BC Museum members receive 20% off on single feature IMAX Theatre tickets. For show times, visit imaxvictoria.com.
1. As omnivores, grizzly bears feed partially on sedge, a high-protein grass in the Great Bear Rainforest. 2. T he Great Bear Rainforest is the last remaining intact temperate coastal rainforest in the world. 3. Director and cinematographer Ian McAllister sets up his camera close to a spirit bear while it roams a stream to hunt for salmon. 4. A n apex predator, the coastal grey wolf hunts for food both on land and in the water in the Great Bear Rainforest.
Ian McAllister is the executive director of Pacific Wild, a BC-based wildlife conservation organization. royalbcmuseum.bc.ca 23 Spring 2019
VOLUNTEER PROFILE
Bob Clark By Cassie Holcomb, Membership and Marketing Coordinator
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very year, volunteers contribute over 46,000 hours of their time to the Royal BC Museum, leading school programs, staffing our gift shops and coat check, engaging visitors through our learning programs, acting as hosts and ambassadors, and supporting the museum and archives’ collections and research areas. Without them, the museum would simply not be the same. Our volunteers are a diverse and talented group of people who enjoy sharing their knowledge and experience with others, building partnerships and being part of one of the most exciting and rewarding volunteer programs in the province.
For this What’s inSight, we sat down with Bob Clark, president of the museum’s volunteer association, to find out more about his work here. What’s inSight. How long have you volunteered at the museum? Bob Clark. I have been with the museum for four years. I was looking for something to do after retiring from the health-care industry. WiS. What do you do here? BC. I work both behind the scenes in the bird prep lab and also directly with visitors as a Learning volunteer. Last summer I worked in the Egypt exhibit demonstrating
hands-on activities. Different people receive information in different ways, so it is a unique experience every time. WiS. What is your favourite part about volunteering? BC. I love to make the visitor feel special. Behind the scenes, I love the opportunity to work with my daughter Chelsea, who also volunteers. My children were born and raised in Victoria and I took them as children to the museum. I now take joy in volunteering with my daughter in the bird prep lab. WiS. You recently became the president of the museum’s volunteer association. Why did you step into that role? BC. I wanted to play a bigger part in the museum family and also contribute to the museum while enriching the experience of other volunteers. The organization not only creates learning opportunities for volunteers, it also provides events for volunteers to come together and socialize. WiS. Finally, what is your favourite part of the museum? BC. I love the Natural History gallery, especially the forest! The Royal BC Museum would like to thank all of our exceptional, dedicated volunteers. We couldn’t do it without you. Looking to volunteer yourself? Contact Holli Hodgson, volunteer service manager, at 250-387-7902 or hhodgson@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
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Need a Lift? Changes in Old Town Mean Improved Accessibility By Michael Barnes, Head of Exhibitions
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hen we ask visitors about their favourite parts of the Royal BC Museum, a few answers come up again and again. The breathtaking artworks in Totem Hall. The immersive feeling of the rainforest diorama. And of course the beloved Old Town kitchen with its faint, lingering smell of apple pie.
level and clad the elevator doors with a historic finish to complete the illusion. The new lift carries up to two people at a time and began operation in mid-December. The next accessibility improvement project
is already under way in the former Capital Curios display space. Stay tuned for details in upcoming issues of What’s inSight. The new lift, seamlessly blending into the Old Town gallery.
The upper floor of Old Town—what we call the mezzanine—is a significant part of one of the Royal BC Museum’s most popular displays. Now, for the first time in its 50-year history, it’s finally accessible to all our visitors. A new lift, cleverly disguised with period styling, allows visitors including wheelchair users and families with strollers to explore the upper level. The mezzanine contains several displays, including the hotel room, the office and the famous kitchen, all built in the 1970s. When the exhibits were designed, awareness of accessibility issues just wasn’t there in the same way as it is today. But we’re committed to making improvements to our core galleries to make sure all our visitors have the best experience possible. The lift project was a complicated logistical feat, involving numerous specialist contractors and virtually all the museum’s Exhibitions staff. The biggest challenge was finding a way to incorporate the lift while preserving the integrity and ambience of the existing displays. We finally devised a plan to embed the lift within the entrance to the Columbia Print Shop on the main level and opposite the kitchen on the mezzanine. We enclosed the elevator with new theming that seamlessly blends in with the exhibits on the upper
Royal Museum Shop Your purchases support the Royal BC Museum Shop in person or online at shop.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca Royal BC Museum members and IMAX season pass holders receive 10% off all purchases with membership card or online coupon code: member Shop hours 10:00 am – 5:00 pm daily 250-356-0505
royalbcmuseum.bc.ca 25 Spring 2019
PARTNERSHIP PROFILE
Making Our Research Fly Thanks to Highland Helicopters and Pacific Coastal Airlines By Jonathan Dallison, Partnerships Manager
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ield trips are vital to the Royal BC Museum’s natural history collections and scientific research. It is the support of socially conscious companies such as Pacific Coastal Airlines and Highland Helicopters Ltd. that make them possible. Please join us in thanking them for their help.
“Pacific Coastal Airlines provides regular schedule, charter and cargo services to 16 airports with connections to more than 50 destinations in the province—more than any other airline. As a British Columbia– based company, we owe our existence to the people and the many communities we serve. With this in mind, we are proud to support the Royal BC Museum’s fieldwork. The researchers contribute new knowledge
that can aid conservation, and we are very happy to help make that possible.” Kevin Boothroyd, Director, Business Development and Corporate Communications, Pacific Coastal Airlines
“Since 1959, Highland Helicopters’ experienced and professional crews have flown many thousands of demanding and challenging hours servicing resource-based industries, government, telecommunication providers and the motion picture industry. We pride ourselves in getting people into and out of some of the most rugged and remote locations in Canada. It is our
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sincere pleasure to provide a valuable service to the Royal BC Museum’s researchers as they, in turn, provide a valuable service to all British Columbians.” Sean Whitford, Base Manager, Highland Helicopters Ltd. Contact partnerships manager Jonathan Dallison at jdallison@royalbcmuseum. bc.ca or 250-413-7756 to discuss how a partnership with the Royal BC Museum through sponsorship can help achieve your corporate goals.
1. Museum staff Ken Marr, Darren Copley and Claudia Copley with aircrew from our sponsor Pacific Coastal Airlines at Prince George Airport. 2. Darren and Claudia Copley unloading gear from a helicopter provided by sponsor Highland Helicopters.
What’s on
For a full listing of what’s happening at the Royal BC Museum, view our calendar online at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/calendar MUSEUM HOURS: 10:00 am–5:00 pm daily Open late until 10:00 pm on Fridays and Saturdays from May 17 to October 5.
FAMILY PROGRAMS
ALL AGES
BC ARCHIVES PROGRAMS
Wonder Sunday
World Water Day
Every Sunday until May! Included with admission or membership
Raven Spirit Dancers present Spine of the Mother, followed by a discussion and film. March 16 I 10:00 am–4:00 pm $20 per person
Exploring the BC Archives with the Victoria Genealogy Society
Wildlife Photography
March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 I 1:00–3:00 pm Behind the Scenes
April 7, 14, 21, 28 I 1:00–3:00 pm Maya
May 5, 12, 19, 26 I 1:00–3:00 pm
ADULT PROGRAMS Spring Institute
Drop in and hear about the fascinating studies taking place across our organization. April 13 I 10:00 am–4:00 pm Free
National Canadian Film Day
Celebrate Canadian cinema and be part of a massive one-day, coast-to-coast-tocoast film festival. April 17 I 1:00–3:00 pm Free Astronomy Day
Join the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Victoria Centre) for International Astronomy Day. April 27 I 10:00 am–4:00 pm Free
A workshop and behind-the-scenes look into the archives’ collections. March 16 I 9:30 am–12:30 pm $15 for VGS members $25 for non-members
LECTURES Distinguished Lecture
Maya: Rediscovering Three Thousand Years of History By Dr. Nikolai Grube Learn more about Maya, from 1000 BCE to the present day. Includes pre-opening access to the Maya: The Great Jaguar Rises exhibition. May 16 I 7:00–10:00 pm $50 per person
Museum Happy Hour
Enjoy one-night-only themed events and activities in one of our core galleries. $10 per person I 19+ Two pieces of ID required Collecting
March 7 I 5:15–7:00 pm Moving Image
March 22 I 5:15–7:00 pm It’s Complicated: A Discussion Series
This participatory discussion series tackles perspectives and definitions, upending assumptions to help us better understand ourselves and our community. A Case for Inclusion
May 22, 23, 29 and 30 I 5:15–7:00 pm Information correct at time of printing. Subject to change. Please visit royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/calendar for most up-todate information. Prices do not include applicable taxes.
250-480-4887 imaxvictoria.com IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation
royalbcmuseum.bc.ca 27 Spring 2019
Every Gift Helps How Your Donations Support the Museum and Archives By Angelica Pass, Development Officer
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id you know that nearly one-fifth of the Royal BC Museum and Archives’ operating budget comes from philanthropic donations? Donations to our Caring for
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Collections and Area of Greatest Need funds ensure that we are able to make our collections, research and knowledge accessible to citizens across the province.
CARING FOR COLLECTIONS FUND Your donations to the Caring for Collections fund provide support for collections preservation projects, initiatives and
Donor Form
YES, I want to support the Royal BC Museum with my tax deductible gift of: $_____________________________________________
MONTHLY GIVING
activities like purchasing acid-free boxes for botany specimens, acquiring humidity-monitoring devices to help protect deteriorating videotape and upgrading our storage to accommodate our growing collection of textiles. Donations also fund conservation treatments to repair artifacts and prevent future damage, as well as supporting further research and study into our collection, which in turn benefits the global scientific community. Less than one per cent of our collection is currently on display. The Caring for Collections fund ensures that everything we hold is protected and accessible, not just for scholars and researchers but for all British Columbians. AREA OF GREATEST NEED FUND Your donations to the Area of Greatest Need fund help us do what we do best: tell the stories of BC. This fund supports activities such as acquisitions, gallery renewal and enhancement, outreach and capital improvements. At the Royal BC Museum and Archives, it is our mission to preserve and share the history of BC for generations to come. With your help, we can continue to care for our collections, fund research about BC’s history, environment and culture, and invest in learning programs for people from all over the province. Please make a donation today. To give, call 250-387-7222 or email donate@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
I prefer the convenience of giving monthly using my credit card. Please take a payment on the 1st or 15th of each month in the amount of $_____________________________________________ (Payments can be discontinued at any time by calling 250-387-7222.)
LEGACY GIVING I am interested in receiving information on leaving a gift in my will to help strengthen the future of the Royal BC Museum.
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Delphine Castles, History collections manager, shows visitors a variety of beaded purses in the textiles collection.
Cheque (please make payable to the Royal BC Museum Foundation) Please return the completed form and donation to the Fundraising and Development Department via our box office, or mail to Royal BC Museum, 675 Belleville Street, Victoria, BC, V8W 9W2. You can also donate by phone at 250-387-7222 or online at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/support. The Royal BC Museum Foundation is a non-profit organization under the legal authority of the Societies Act (RSBC 1996, C. 433). The personal information collected on this form is subject to the Personal Information Protection Act (SBC 2003, C. 63). The personal information collected will be used by the Royal BC Museum Foundation to maintain our donor list, issue tax receipts and publicly recognize your donation. Personal information collected will be shared with the Royal BC Museum to provide you with up to date information on current events/exhibitions. If you wish to access or correct your personal information, or would like to make an inquiry about the Royal BC Museum’s privacy policies and procedures, you can contact our Information and Privacy Officer by mail, email at privacy@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca or by telephone at 250-356-0698. Charitable #: 118933241RR0001
#RBCMMAYA
THE GREAT JAGUAR RISES Discover a powerful culture that rose in the tropical rainforests of Central America thousands of years ago. Explore Maya identity from ancient times to the present day and see how science and belief have shaped the Maya world.
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EXHIBITION OPEN MAY 17 — DEC 31, 2019 GET TICKETS AT RBCM.CA/MAYA The exhibition has been produced as a joint venture between MuseumsPartner and the Royal BC Museum, with lending partners including the most relevant museums and collections of Guatemala and the support of the Guatemala Ministry of Culture and Sports.