Representatives of The Reach Gallery Museum were in Quebec City this week to receive a Governor General’s History Award. The awards are Canada’s most prestigious history prizes and are awarded to teachers, authors, broadcasters and museum professionals from across Canada who share a vision and passion for history and who make a difference in their communities. The ceremony was held at the Residence of the Governor General at The Citadelle of Quebec and included winners from 2021 and 2022.
The Reach is the recipient of the 2021 award for Excellence in Community Programming for Semá:th Xó:tsa: Sts’ólemeqwelh Sxó:tsa Sumas Lake: Great-Gramma’s Lake. This collaborative, multidisciplinary project is the result of a partnership between Stó:lō leaders, knowledge keepers, and artists and culminated in a suite of user-friendly history resources including a children’s history book, an exhibition at The Reach, online video and teaching tools, and a live performance featuring a cast of larger-than-live illuminated puppets. The purpose of the project is to reclaim the memory Semá:th Xó:tsa (Sumas Lake) while inviting the public to consider the ongoing repercussions of colonialism in their community. The collaborative project was brought to life by Thetáx Chris Silver (Sé:math First Nation), Xémontélót Carrielynn Victor (Cheam First Nation), Kris Foulds (Curator of Historical Collections, The Reach Gallery
Museum), and Laura Schneider (Executive Director, The Reach Gallery Museum).
In her speech at the ceremony, the Governor General, Her Excellency Mary Simon stated, “the History Awards honour those who tell our stories—all our stories—and who are having the hard, but necessary conversations, particularly with young people.”
Reflecting on the ceremony and the project, Carrielynn Victor who co-wrote and illustrated the book says “with informed actions and the energy of genuinely caring and connected community members, there is much to be celebrated. We can look forward to a future where people begin to heal together, stand in our collective truth and trust that even our government representatives will walk along side us.”
Also representing Abbotsford was educator Jen Maxwell who received a 2022 Governor General’s Award for Excellence in Teaching for work with students at W. J. Mouat Secondary School in Abbotsford. Maxwell created a cross-curricular project that required students to look closely at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s ninety-four calls to action and research the progress that has been made to date. They then considered their individual roles and responsibilities towards reconciliation and selected one call to action to address. Students completed further research on a topic or issue that was introduced through the course and created an original project to showcase their learning and engage their targeted audience in an act of reconciliation.
