Please note that The Reach is currently closed for the installation of new exhibitions. Join us for the opening of "Desirée Patterson: Interglacial" and "What Inspires You?" on 27 June from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Abbotsford, BC – The Reach Gallery Museum is honoured to be the recipient of the 2021 Governor General’s History Award for Excellence in Community Programming. The organization and its collaborators are being recognized for the collaborative, multidisciplinary project Semá:th X̱ó:tsa: Sts’ólemeqwelh Sx̱ó:tsa/Sumas Lake: Great-Gramma’s Lake. The project resulted in in a children’s history book, an exhibition, a puppet performance, and suite of educational resources.
The working group responsible for the project comprises Thetáx Chris Silver (Semá:th First Nation), Xémontélót Carrielynn Victor (Cheam First Nation), and Kris Foulds and Laura Schneider from The Reach. Using memory and story, this collaborative project recalls a time when the lake was thriving, and invites the public to consider the ongoing repercussions of colonialism in their community.
“My goal when we started the book was get the story out there to let everyone know about Semá:th X̱ó:tsa (Sumas Lake), what it meant to our people, and how environmental changes have drastically impacted and changed our lives as a people,” says Chris Silver. “It’s important to acknowledge and respect our history and the history of S’ólh Téméxw, the land. It’s important to recognize our people and our place names for this land. It’s our history and it’s important. It is our Sqwélqwel: the truth as we know it.”
The children’s book has been especially popular. Since its publication in November 2020, over 1,500 copies of the book have been delivered directly to Stó:lō communities, and an additional 1,500 were distributed to school boards in Abbotsford, Mission, and Chilliwack. The book was also picked up by education publisher Scholastic Canada Ltd. as a part of their Grade 3 Science Curriculum Resources.
Since the lake temporarily returned during the 2021 floods in the Fraser Valley, this project has only become more timely. As artist Carrielynn Victor, who is responsible for the book’s illustrations, states: “recognition is important. It helps people near and far continue to observe how the lake lives in the memory of the land, and when it rains long enough, we see the lake return to itself.”
“As a project team of museum workers and Stó:lō community leaders, we share an interest in drawing awareness to historical realities that continue to shape our community today. The urgency of sharing this knowledge was emphasized for us when the lake returned during the November 2021 floods in the Fraser Valley,” says Laura Schneider.
The Semá:th X̱ó:tsa exhibition is currently on view at Evergreen Cultural Centre until July 17, 2022.
The project is also the recipient of a 2021 Heritage BC Award of Honour for Education, Awareness and Communication, and a 2021 BC Museums Association Award for Excellence in Community Engagement. This is the second project for which The Reach has received a Governor General’s History Award. The first was for programming associated with the permanent museum exhibition Voices of the Valley, which was awarded in 2016.
