Sechelt Indian Band members Erika Vader and Corinna Julius will have the chance to uncover some Canadian history during a three-week professional development training program at the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa.
Vader, 21, and Julius, 23, will focus on skill development in the field of museology.
Since September 2013, the students have been training extensively in a variety of museum related fields such as collections management, display development, archaeology, ethnography and critical scientific lab techniques. Both continue to receive training in cultural interpretation and offer visitors to the tems swiya Museum insight into shíshálh culture.
Both students are excited to travel to Canada’s capital city and to return with an expanded skill-set which will benefit the tems swiya Museum and further ensure the preservation of shíshálh artifacts.
“I am grateful for this exceptional opportunity to develop my research skills, learn from leading specialists, and eventually bring these experiences and skills back to my community’s museum,” Vader said.
“We are able to protect, preserve, restore, and study the tools and objects used by my ancestors thousands of years ago … I feel extremely lucky,” Julius added.
Dr. Terrance Clark, archaeologist with the Canadian Museum of History, is the program’s developer and one of many academic specialists from whom the students will receive specialized training. Clark has been conducting archaeological studies in shíshálh territory for the past four years and is delighted about the collaborative relationship between the two cultural institutions.
“The Canadian Museum of History is very excited to have Erika and Corinna train with us. It is a great way to give back to a community that has been so welcoming to us,” he said.
This three-week intensive training program represents an unprecedented level of collaboration and has been developed as part of a long-term relationship between the Sechelt Nation and the Canadian Museum of History.
— Submitted
