Chief Joe Capilano, 5th from left, & delegation of First Nations leaders on North Vancouver Ferry Wharf prior to leaving for Ottawa to see Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier. NVMA 957
By Kenny Muir, Guest Services Representative at MONOVA
The launch of MONOVA’s new feature exhibit Agents of Change: The Chief Dan George Legacy reminds us that there is a lot to learn about Indigenous political history. This rejuvenated exhibit includes much of our previous exhibit Chief Dan George: Actor & Activist that launched in 2017 and has traveled across the province and to the United States. There is so much history to learn, not just around Chief Dan George, but also of many other leaders who fought against colonial systems.
I have chosen another leader to highlight. One, who has brought to light issues within our own work at MONOVA. This leader’s name is Chief Tsuli’multw/ Charley Ispaymilt, a Quw’utsun/ Cowichan Nation Chief.
My name is Kenny Muir, I am a Guest Services Representative. Since I started working for MONOVA nearly two years ago, I have had to wrap my head around many histories, from North Vancouver, Indigenous communities and places abroad. Nearly everything was brand new to me, especially Indigenous history!
I ask our Indigenous Cultural Programmers, Tsawaysia Spukwus/ Alice Guss, Jordan Dawson, Senaqwila Wyss, former Indigenous Cultural Programmer, and so many more friends and visitors from the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations to share stories whenever I get the opportunity.
NVMA 1906-5
Tsawaysia has been the number one person to teach me about Chief Sap7luk/ Joe Capilano, her great-great grandfather, and how he went to London in 1906 to talk to Edward VII about Indigenous rights.
This picture shows Chief Sap7luk in the front heading down a set of stairs with another man heading down right behind him. Tsawaysia told me that was the Interpreter, Simon Pierre from q̓ic̓əy̓/ Katzie Nation. But everything flipped over when we had a micro exhibit in the summer of 2022 that was made by students from Squamish Nation Youth, Tsleil-Waututh Youth and Kenneth Gordon School. Each student chose someone they admired and one of them happened to be Chief Sap7luk. The micro exhibit showed that not just two but four people went to London in 1906!
Picture of a student’s poster, taken by Kenny Muir.
In the picture of the delegation Chief Sap7luk/ Joe Capilano and Chief Tsulpi’multw/ Charley Ispaymilt are flipped. Learning about Chief Tsulpi’multw/ Charley Ispaymilt was very difficult, the records in the Archives have mislabeled him as “Chief Harry”. In an effort to decolonize the Archives I have tried to learn the most about the London Trip. So, who is who in this delegation? Chief Tsulpi’multw, Chief Basil David, and the Interpreter Simon Pierre.
Picture from Hastings Mill General Store.
The primary confirmation on who Simon Pierre came from two pictures. One is of the Pierre family without Simon taken in 1906, and the other I happened upon at the North Vancouver City Library. I picked up Wayne Suttles’ book Coast Salish Essays.I flipped through debating to grab it with my already heavy backpack of history books. I read, “Simon Pierre. At home at [q̓ic̓əy̓] Katzie in the summer of 1963. As a young man Simon was an interpreter for the Salish chiefs who went to London to argue for Native rights[.]” This was Simon in his 80’s by then! There was no way he could be the same person heading down the stairs with Chief Sap7luk/ Joe Capilano.
Photo by Kenny Muir. Taken from Coast Salish Essays by Wayne Suttles.
I saw another board in our curatorial collection with our Curator Andrea Terron and our Archivist Rebecca Pasch where I saw the same staircase photo, where underneath it only acknowledged Chief Sap7luk/ Joe Capilano.
I said it had to be Chief Tsulpi’multw/ Charley Ispaymilt out of the four people who went to London making the list as short as possible. We all knew which one was Chief Sap7luk/ Joe Capilano and the confirmation of Simon Pierre. The newspaper at the time didn’t list them properly either, showing a lack of care and or misunderstanding from London’s The Graphic newspaper over a hundred years ago. But Chief Basil David was properly identified with Simon Pierre wearing their wide brimmed hats in The Graphic.
Peter Pierre and family from the Maple Ridge Museum & Archives
Andrea and Rebecca both thought it would be great to have Chief Tsulpi’multw/ Charley Ispaymilt properly labeled in our Archives collection and they told me that the Chief Dan George: Actor & Activist was on display in Duncan at the Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives, where friends and family of Chief Tsulpi’multw/ Charley Ispaymilt properly labeled him on our traveling exhibit.
Fantastic news! We had a proper confirmation from the Quw’utsun/ Cowichan Nation! The new exhibit was coming up and Andrea and I wanted to make sure that all four of the Delegation were properly recognized. So, then what about Chief Basil David?
Chief Basil David from James Teit, 1916
We had another helping hand in the process. Our Friends Society President, Jennifer Pantel, works very closely with the Secwépemc/ Shuswap Peoples of the Interior. She was able to give us a proper name of the St’uxwtews community/ Bonaparte First Nation for Chief Basil David.
I have learned from Rebecca that even a mislabeled document or picture can also be used as a good learning opportunity for how Archives can take part in reconciliation work. These are not just bygone histories stagnant in the past, they can be corrected and it is our responsibility to do so.
With this knowledge, MONOVA Archives has properly labeled Chief Tsulpi’multw/ Charley Ispaymilt in any photos that we have.
NVMA 957
Though we didn’t reach out to the q̓ic̓əy̓/ Katzie Nation we hope that everyone is properly represented in our new exhibit of these powerful leaders who are not only their own “Agents of Change” but brought change to their people, and to the world as a whole.
This is just one example but it is an ongoing process. We will continue to contact the Nations and find how to understand the information we have and share these histories at the North Vancouver Museum and Archives.
Feature Gallery Exhibit Closing June 9th: Agents of Change: Chief Dan George Legacy
DON’T MISS OUT! Our latest Feature Gallery exhibition, “Agents of Change: Chief Dan George Legacy,” is available for viewing at MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver (115 West Esplanade).
This exhibition bridges the past and present, honouring Chief Dan George and his legacy while fostering discussions on humility, human rights, environmental protection, and identity.
Join us as we move forward in uncovering truths and pursuing reconciliation within our histories. The exhibition runs until June 9th.
Resources & References
MONOVA Online Database – 1906-5 & 957
“The Return of Chief Tsulpi’multw’s Ceremonial Blanket” By Daniel Marshall, 2019
“The Crown’s Promise” Prepared By Jody Woods, 2001
“Rethinking Dialogue and History: The King’s Promise and the 1906 Aboriginal Delegation to London” By Keith Thor Carlson, 2005
“Threads to the Past: The Construction and Transformation of Kinship in the Coast Salish Social Network” By Dorothy Irene Kennedy, 2000
“Chief Capilano and the 1906 Delegation,” 2022
“A Trip to London, 1906” by Lani Russwurm, 2012
“The Katzie First Nations” By Terry Glavin
Picture the Pierre Family, Maple Ridge Museum & Archives, 2020
North Vancouver City Library, Coast Salish Essays By Wayne Suttles, 1987
“Secwepemc”, Karen Wonders, 2010
“The Memorial to Sir Wilfrid Laurier”, Dr. Ron Ignace, Ken Favrholdt, Emma Feltes, Dr. Marianne Ignace, Walter Quinlan, Robert Louie, Reanna Leonard and Bonnie Leonard, 2010
Chief Dan George: Actor & Activist, 2023
“Capilano: The Story of a River” By James W. Morton – Pages 25-37, 1970
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