A reference for BC Indigenous communities and museums, created by and for Indigenous people working in repatriation.

?Our late friend and brother Rod Naknakim said, “Reconciliation and repatriation cannot and should not be separated. The two must anchor our conversation and guide our efforts as we move forward collectively with common purpose and …

What would you do if you came face to face with a large yellow waxwing, wild turkey or weather loach? Who would you call if common wall lizards or giant hogweed crept into your back yard?

Alex Van Tol can help. In Aliens Among Us, she identifies more than 50 species of alien animals and plants that have established themselves in British Columbia. Wi …

First published in 1965, The Indian History of British Columbia: The Impact of the White Man remains an important book thanks to Wilson Duff's rigorous scholarship. It is an excellent overview of the history of the interaction between the First Nations of British Columbia and the colonial cultures that came to western North America. In its 55 years …

The Whaling People live along the west coast of Vancouver Island and Cape Flattery in Washington. They comprise more than 20 First Nations, including the Nuu-chah-nulth, Ditidaht, Pacheedaht and Makah. These socially related people enjoyed a highly organized, tradition-based culture for centuries before Europeans arrived. As whaling societies, they …

On a winter's day in 1889, Tsimshian Chief Arthur Wellington Clah went to Hannah and Richard Maynard's photography studio in Victoria "to give myself likeness." In Images from the Likeness House, Dan Savard explores the relationship between First Peoples in British Columbia, Alaska and Washington and the photographers who made images of them from t …

Humans share a long history with carnivores. We fear them as predators, revile them as competitors, exploit them for their fur, or admire them for their grace and beauty. This book, the fifth of six volumes on the mammals of BC, provides comprehensive, up-to-date information on the 21 species of wild terrestrial carnivores in the province. Species …

Nancy Turner describes more than 150 plants traditionally harvested and eaten by First Peoples east of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia and northern Washington. Each description includes information on where to find the plant and a discussion on traditional methods of harvesting and preparation.

In Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples, renowned ethnobotanist Nancy J. Turner describes more than 100 plants traditionally harvested and eaten by coastal aboriginal groups. Each description contains botanical details and a colour photograph to help identify the plant, information on where to find it, and a discussion on traditional methods of har …

In the mid 1840s, 50 years after first contact with Europeans, the Songhees people amalgamated on a reserve across the harbour from the newly built Fort Victoria. Grant Keddie tells the story of the old Songhees Reserve through the eyes of outsiders, expressed in newspaper reports and private journals, and depicted in sketches, paintings and photog …

Peter Macnair and Alan Hoover recount the history of Haida argillite carving since it began in the early 1800s, and they describe more than 200 examples from the extensive collection of the Royal BC Museum. Argillite is a dense, black shale mined from a quarry on Haida Gwaii, reserved for the exclusive use of Haida carvers. Argillite works are uniq …

Nancy Turner and Richard Hebda present the results of many years of working with botanical experts from the Saanich Nation on southern Vancouver Island. Elders Violet Williams, Elsie Claxton, Christopher Paul and Dave Elliott pass on their knowledge of plants and their uses to future generations of Saanich and Coast Salish people, and to anyone int …

Out of the Mist celebrates the art, culture and history of the Nuu-chah-nulth nations. It features the material culture?including many major art pieces?of the richly complex societies along the west coast of Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula. With the help of many Nuu-chah-nulth voices, Martha Black places the objects in context with the c …

In her third ethnobotany handbook, Nancy Turner focuses on the plants that provided heat, shelter, transportation, clothing, tools, nets, ropes, containers—all the necessities of life for First Peoples. She describes more than 100 of these plants, their various uses and their importance in the material cultures of First Nations in British Columbi …

The Kitwancool people live in a village of the same name on a tributary of the Skeena River, near Hazelton. In his introduction, Wilson Duff says, "the Kitwancool think of themselves as an independent and completely autonomous tribe." This book, written by the Kitwancool, contains statements about their history, territories, laws and customs. It is …