Rendering of the Welcome Circle in the Permanent Gallery. Here visitors will be introduced to the stories, history, culture and people of the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.

Telling the Stories of North Vancouver

When the 16,000 ft² Museum of North Vancouver opens in 2021, artifacts that have never been displayed before will be accessible to the public. One of the many items on curator, Karen Dearlove’s to-do list is planning the layout of the display cases that will hold the objects that tell the stories of North Vancouver.

We recently received some objects from Capilano University archaeologist, Bob Muckle, which will be used in the new Museum to help illustrate the story of a small Japanese (Nikkei) community that inhabited an area deep in the woods of what is now the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve, from the 1920s to the 1940s (if you missed this surprising story, read it here).

Museum objects help bring exhibit stories to life. Simple and beautiful rice bowls, sake bottles, and ointment jars represent the everyday domestic life of the small Nikkei village and the people who once lived there. The objects, as well as the descriptive labels, supplement and complement the graphics and texts that tell the stories of North Vancouver’s history and people.

Objects excavated from the Nikkei Village in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve.

Caring for Museum Objects

Besides having an obligation to make artifacts accessible to the public, when the Museum acquires an object, it assumes legal, social, and ethical obligations to provide proper physical storage, management and care. For some objects, these considerations need to be carefully balanced with decisions about access and display.

Maintaining proper humidity, temperature and lighting in the exhibit space is important to protect and conserve museum objects. Certain objects, depending on the type of materials they are made from, are more sensitive to environmental conditions than others. Objects made from natural materials, like certain textiles, woven baskets and objects made from wood, require more protections. The First Nations cedar baskets and painted carved objects like masks and talking sticks that will be displayed in the new Museum exhibits will be rotated to limit the amount of light they are exposed to in order to prevent damage.

Assorted Coast Salish baskets.

Orca carving by Tsleil-Waututh artist Artie George. Item: NVMA 2016.7.1

When it opens in 2021, the new Museum will transform the way we experience North Vancouver’s stories. To learn more, click here.