Social Justice and Human Rights

Pathways

Landscapes of Injustice

This pathway examines the displacement and dispossession of thousands of Japanese Canadians in Canada in the 1940s.

This pathway is connected to the exhibition Hope Meets Action: Echoes Through the Black Continuum. The exhibition and pathway explores the connections between historical and contemporary Black experiences throughout BC.

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Hannah Maynard

Hannah Maynard was an early expert in experimental photography. In the mid-1800s, she started capturing portraits of Victoria’s early settlers and Indigenous communities. With explorations of multiple exposures and photo sculpting, she experimented with surrealism years before its time.

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The Punjabi Experience in British Columbia

Explore interviews from the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley. Learn more about the experiences of early Punjabi immigrants to Canada.

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Residential Schools and Reconciliation

How do we reconcile past wrongs? Look at documents and objects from the Royal BC Museum’s ethnology collection and archives to learn about the effects of Indian residential schools and think about how we can reach reconciliation.

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Acknowledging Past Wrongs

Look into documents and artifacts from the Royal BC Museum and Archives to uncover how the Chinese Canadian community was treated in BC’s past.

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Early Chinese Canadian Experiences in British Columbia

Did you know that there has been a connection between China and BC for over 225 years? Explore the Royal BC Museum and Archives and use our collections to find out more about early Chinese Canadian history.

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Documents and Diaries

It’s been more than 100 years since the beginning of the First World War. How can we now use artifacts, documents, and other primary sources to understand what life was like for people during this part of BC’s past?

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A Living Schoolhouse

Explore the rich history of the people who learned and taught in St. Ann's Schoolhouse.

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Emily Carr

Emily Carr is British Columbia’s most famous artist, but she was also a colourful woman who lived a life full of adventure. Learn about Emily’s love of animals and explore her life through some of the museum’s vast Emily Carr collection.

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Our Living Languages

Did you know BC is a language hotspot? Over 34 distinct indigenous languages are spoken here. Explore sounds, images, words and video about First Nations languages.

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Mary Henry’s Journey to a Tropical Valley

American botanist Mary Gibson Henry collected plants in northeastern BC in 1931. Her pioneering journey was recorded on film. Lucky for us, BC Archives has a copy.

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Drawing Nature

With all the choices for recording images these days, the art of illustration is still valued by scientific researchers. Explore the work of gifted biologist and illustrator Dr Hart.

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The Royal Treatment

The role of the British Crown in Canada is mainly ceremonial, but the lieutenant-governor still plays a key part in the governing of British Columbia.

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Entries

Japanese Tea Garden in Esquimalt

By UVIC Public History 2017 Grad Student Project

Hayato Takata and Yoshitaro Kishida opened the garden on July 11, 1907. Two Takata brothers started to run the garden as a family business in 1922. The Takata family was interned in 1942. Their houses and the garden were vandalized and destroyed. The rest of their belongings were sold off by the government. [BC Archives-E-01902] Learn more about this image at BC Archives here.

Transcript of an Interview with Hideo Kokubo

By UVIC Public History 2017 Grad Student Project

Hideo Kokubo was interviewed in Vancouver in 1973 in a project by Reynoldston Research and Studies. He discusses life as a fisherman in BC in the 1940s and mentions how the government seized Japanese Canadian fishing boats during the Second World War. [BC Archives-AAAB8584] Learn more about this interview at BC Archives here.

Miners at the Awaya Ikeda Mine, Haida Gwaii

By UVIC Public History 2017 Grad Student Project

The owner of the Ikeda Mine, Arichika Ikeda, died in 1939 but the ownership of his mine came under the jurisdiction of the Custodian in 1942. His wife, Kaoru Ikeda, interned in Slocan, was made to release her rights to the property as well as their family house. She died after four years of internment in the spring of 1946. [BC Archives H-04580] Learn more about this image at BC Archives here.

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