A Walk Through British Columbia’s History

Updated: Oct 30, 2021

One thing my husband and I enjoy together are visits to museums, no matter which city we go to. This is one excursion that we both go to voluntarily (versus just going on account of the other, i.e., when he spends hours in art galleries or sits through a theatre performance with me, or when I clamber up rocks in mosquito-infested forests in the summer or watch a five-hour wrestling extravaganza with him, which by the way I refer to as just a testosterone-filled soap opera, much to his chagrin, but I digress).

The first order of our second day in Victoria was the Royal British Columbia Museum, so right after breakfast, we walked there in time for its opening.

Founded in 1886, the Royal British Columbia Museum (most of the time simply referred to as the Royal BC Museum) consists of The Province of British Columbia's Natural and Human History Museum, as well as the British Columbia Provincial Archives. It has three permanent exhibitions – natural history, local Indigenous history, and modern history. A visit here will literally walk you through the history of the province and tells you its story from the time it was ruled by extinct species to the settlement of the Indigenous tribes, and the arrival of Western immigrants.

The Natural History Gallery contains artifacts and life-sized displays of the diverse geography of the province from prehistoric times to the present. It features impressive dioramas (the most notable of which is the one with the woolly mammoth), a huge collection of fossils and taxidermy specimens, and a tide pool that contains live crabs, starfish, and other crustaceans. I was amazed at how large and extensive their collection is covering various categories – botany, entomology, invertebrate zoology, paleontology, mammalogy, ornithology, herpetology (a discipline primarily dedicated to studying the amphibians and reptiles of BC), and ichthyology (a discipline primarily dedicated to studying the fish of BC). I naturally stayed away from the herpetology section, and those who know me will know why (clue: I have a reptile phobia).

The First People’s Gallery is dedicated to the collection of Indigenous artifacts, most of them from the Haida people. It includes village models, totem poles, ceremonial masks, regalia, jewelry, houseware, and utilitarian objects. It also features exceptional master works, as well as a real long house. There are also photographs and film clips taken over the years that document our Indigenous people and their way of life.

The Totem Hall serves as the central exhibit with monumental carvings from various West Coast communities evoking the grandeur of their coastal villages in the 19th century. As well, I enjoyed the visit to the Haida Argillite Carving Gallery, which is a tribute to one of the most significant artistic expressions of BC. Argillite is a type of black shale obtained from a quarry on Slatechuck Creek near Skidegate on Haida Gwaii, and from this stone, the Haida people made commercial carvings which are all exquisite. There is also a replica of a pit house or kekuli, which are winter homes constructed underground by some communities in BC’s southern interior that are well-insulated by an earth-covered roof and a layer of snow.

Apart from cultural items and art work, the gallery also has a section for archeology containing ancient artifacts like tools and weapons found buried underground in the same land occupied by the Indigenous communities. They have lived in these regions for thousands of years, long before the arrival of the European settlers. In fact, the museum itself is located on the traditional territories of the Lekwungen (Songhees and Xwsepsum Nations).

The Modern History Gallery takes you on a journey throughout BC’s most recent history. It begins at Century Hall, which features artifacts and replicas from the province’s olden days. In the Old Town, you can take a walk along a life-sized model of Victoria circa 1870 to the 1920s, a cobblestone streetscape lined with shops, a hotel, a silent movie theatre, a train station, Chinatown, and even old automobiles. Then the displays shift into a gallery that depicts the early forestry, fishing, and mining industries in the province. There is even a replica of a mineshaft and a Cornish water wheel. This section also contains models of the original Fort Victoria, a Port Moody train station, and the 1902 Tremblay Homestead in Peace River. There is also a large-scale replica of Captain George Vancouver’s ship, the HMS Discovery. A walk-through this gallery felt like being at a studio set where a period movie is about to be filmed.

Our few hours at the museum certainly made us feel privileged to be living in beautiful British Columbia!