Were there museums before settlement?
Our very first guest is Coralee Miller, a member of the sqilxw Nation. She is a visual artist and a docent at the Sncewips Heritage Museum in Kelowna, British Columbia. There are over 50 Nations and Indigenous languages spoken in Canada, each with their own customs and culture. Coralee’s answers are based on her sqilxw ancestry.
In this episode Coralee talks about how her ancestors kept their history alive, how belongings were often burned when people passed away, why there are many Indigenous museums today and “the living museum”.
“The museum was in the mind… Our elders remember everything. It’s kind of like a living museum… For us, I imagine heritage to be more than just an artifact. It’s not just an arrowhead, but where did that arrowhead comes from.”
This is a dugout canoe. It was made from a black cottonwood tree. Master carver, Gordon Marchand created it for the museum. In the Westbank area of the Okanagan there were dense wetlands that required durable canoes. Birchbark canoes were not strong or sturdy enough to use in the wetlands.
The art of canoe carving was almost lost. The Indian Act of 1876 prohibited First Nations people from gathering in groups. The number of people required to paddle a canoe like this was over the “legal” limit for a gathering. People stopped using them and making new ones. Why carve a canoe that cannot be used?
This nsyilxcə Mx ̌ʷal-(cradleboard) is one of Coralee’s favourite belongings in the museum. Because Sncǝwips is a living museum, belongings come and go. Recently a baby was born into the family that owns this cradleboard and out it went to the new mother.
When we asked Coralee why there are many Indigenous museums across Canada, she said “It was really believed that First Nation people wouldn’t exist anymore… some folks thought ‘These people will be relics of the past so we need to preserve them as something to look at later.’ But we’re still here. For too long people have been telling our story for us and they’re just not good at it.”
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