We are celebrating Aboriginal (Un)History Month with the UBC Library! You are invited to engage with and share about this year’s exhibits and events here.
A message from our UBC Library colleagues:
What is Aboriginal (Un)History Month?
The University of British Columbia Point Grey campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓̓ speaking Musqueam people.
We thank Musqueam for its hospitality and support of this work.
Background
Since 2009, the month of June has been designated as ‘National Aboriginal History Month’ by the federal government of Canada. National Aboriginal Day is June 21 every year.
UBC Library and the participating curators have been observing Aboriginal (Un)History Month at UBC Library since 2011. The exhibits and programs are meant to:
- celebrate Aboriginal creativity, scholarship, and intellectual traditions,
- cultivate conversations about relationship, representation and recognition,
- inspire participants to be better informed about the Aboriginal lands and peoples of whom we are guests
Journeys
This year’s theme is “Honouring our Journeys.” This year, we celebrate journeys that have been emotional, spiritual, and educational; personal, community, and institutional; and historic, contemporary, or moment-in-time. We thank our co-curators for sharing their stories with us.
The Displays
There are six display cases featured in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre foyer:
- The Museum of Anthropology – Claiming Space: Voices of Urban Aboriginal Youth
- The Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology – Our Time and Place at UBC: Reflecting on the TRC in 2013
- Decolonizing Knowledge – Knowing the Land Beneath Our Feet at UBC
- West Moberly First Nations – Protecting Treaty Rights: the Klinse-Za Caribou Herd’s Journey Towards Recovery
- Musqueam Indian Band – mən̓ə to mana: xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) to Māori (Rotorua, New Zealand)
- Ch’nook – Indigenous Business Education
The Events
There are events scheduled throughout the month of June. For more information, you can find the calendar here. We hope that you will engage with the displays, attend the events, and take the time to learn something new and to reflect on both these and your own journeys. We invite any feedback and conversations you may have and are happy to answer any questions about these displays, or Aboriginal (Un)History Month. You can reach Sarah Dupont at sarah.dupont@ubc.ca
About the paddle
The paddle chosen to symbolize our journeys theme is a photo of one created by Keith Point. Keith is from Skowkale First Nation in Chilliwack but also descends from the Point family in Musqueam. He is a war canoe racer, canoe builder and also makes war canoe paddles. He hand makes them, along with his two sons and son-in-law. His father, Mark Point is also a canoe builder. The paddle in the photo is a war canoe paddle and is used for racing.
Thanks
This year we have participation from Musqueam, West Moberly First Nations, Xwi7xwa Library, the First Nations House of Learning, the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology – Aboriginal Initiatives, the Museum of Anthropology, Ch’nook Indigenous Business Education, Library Communications, and the Irving K Barber Learning Centre.
We thank them all for their participation and contributions.
