ROYAL BRITISH COLUMBIA MUSEUM
1. First Peoples Gallery
Historic photos, video, audio, and First Nations artifacts are combined for a spellbinding experience in this gallery. Look out for the collection of superb ceremonial masks.
First Nations totem pole
2. Modern History Gallery
In the atmospheric 20th-Century Hall, it’s easy to step back into the Victoria of the early 1900s. Re-created buildings include the Grand Hotel, with its authentic wood-cobbled street, a salmon cannery, a dressmaker’s studio, and a Chinese herbalist’s shop, all displaying authentic period objects. There’s also a full-scale replica of Captain George Vancouver’s H.M.S. Discovery.
3. Netherlands Centennial Carillon Tower
This tower, with 62 bells, was gifted to the museum in 1967 from BC residents of Dutch descent. Free recitals are usually held at 3pm on Sundays.
Netherlands Centennial Carillon Tower adjacent to the Royal British Columbia Museum
4. Thunderbird Park
A dozen poles preside over this park. The carved mythical figures tell stories of traditional Coast Salish cultures. Included are Gitxsan memorial poles, Haida mortuary poles, a Cumshewa pole, and Kwakwaka’wakw heraldic poles.
5. Ocean Station
A Victorian-era “submarine” exhibit allows visitors to access BC’s coastal marine life. Peer through portholes at kelp beds, watch live sea creatures, including sea urchins and fish, in the central 95-gallon (360-liter) aquarium, then check out the colorful vistas on a giant underwater cliff through a moveable periscope.
6. St. Ann’s Schoolhouse
Built in 1844 and donated to the museum by the Sisters of St. Ann, this building was once a school classroom. It was moved to its current location in 1974 and is now an interpretive center.
7. Mungo Martin House
Also called Wawadit’la, this replica of a big house was built in 1952 by Chief Mungo Martin, who was considered the finest carver of his day, with the assistance of his family. The house posts bear the family’s crest. Wawadit’la is a functioning big house and is still used for First Nations events with the permission of Chief Martin’s grandson.
8. IMAX Victoria Theatre
Subjects as diverse as whales and outer space are explored in a series of documentary and feature films on the theater’s six-story screen.
9. Natural History Gallery
Realistic dioramas explore a range of environments, from ocean to boreal forest, including the giant old-growth forest that once covered coastal BC. One of the most striking of the range of animals depicted in re-created habitats is a grizzly bear, BC’s largest land predator. Other highlights include full-size models of a woolly mammoth and a northern (or Steller) sea lion.
10. Helmcken House
One of the oldest houses in BC still on its original site was built by Dr. John Sebastian Helmcken in 1852. The three-room log structure is made of Douglas fir trees. Period furnishings reflect the Victorian era.
Exterior of the Helmcken House
RECONCILIATION AND REPATRIATION
In March 2017, The Royal British Columbia Museum organized a symposium in partnership with the First Peoples’ Cultural Council. This gathering in Kelowna, BC, was to discuss the repatriation of indigenous ancestral remains, sacred objects and cultural heritage items in the museum’s collection. Public attention has been focused on reconciliation with BC’s First Nations since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of Canada revealed the harm done to the more than 150,000 Aboriginal, Metis and Inuit children removed from their communities and forced to attend residential schools. The TRC report reinforced the rights of indigenous peoples to restitution of their heritage, including many items now exhibited in museums across North America and Europe.
Totem Hall features huge totem poles and carvings from the Heiltsuk, Kwakwaka’wakw, Nuxalk, Gitxsan, Haida and Nuu-chah-nulth communities.
TOP 10 MUSEUM OBJECTS
1. Dinosaur footprints
Cast from imprints in Peace River Canyon.
2. Woolly Mammoth
This model is in the Natural History gallery.
3. Totem Hall
The central exhibit in the First Peoples Gallery.
4. Huu-ay-aht welcome figures
Pre-1900 carved figures are exhibited in the lobby.
5. Elza Mayhew sculpture
Mayhew’s imposing totemic bronze “Caryatid.”
6. Captain Cook dagger
The weapon that was used to kill the explorer.
7. Judge Begbie’s wig
This was worn by BC’s first supreme court judge.
8. Cougar
BC’s largest wild cat is in the Coastal Forest diorama.
9. Haida box by Bill Reid
Bill Reid made this gold box in 1971.
10. Chinese tailoring shop
A reassembled shop in the Old Town.
