A discussion was held with Derek Tan and Yukiko Galey on ways to integrate indigenous perspectives through historical museums.
A project named Sturgeon Harpoon Knowledge Web (Perspectives on Biodiversity) is a collaboration between Vancouver’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum and the Musqueam First Nation. The project believes that relationships held by species or object is circled around a large (35-foot) turgeon harpoon.
The Musqueam men and women were living for more than a thousand years in Greater Vancouver. Archaeological journals harvested proof that Musqueam people resided in this location, specifically in Marpole midden, which is situated at the Fraser River. These facts inspired the creation of the Musqueam First Nation.
On the other hand, Vancouver’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum aims to preserve the link of every living thing on earth. The University houses several biological collections, such as insects and birds in a 20,000 sq. ft. area.
Among their millions of valuable specimens is a large skeleton of a blue whale suspended in their atrium and trackways of a dinosaur from the Cretaceous period. There are also myriads of mammals, reptiles, plants, and fossils from Canada itself and all around the globe.
The discussion was held last January 19, 2020 as part of Canada’s 12th History Forum: Small Stories, Big Ideas.