đŸ›¶ Driving the Project

BC has a long history of colonialism. It shaped the land, the laws, the education system—and most importantly, the stories that get passed down.

This project asked us to consider: ‘How do we confront that history?’ And more specifically

‘Who gets to tell the story of this place?’

🔍 The Driving Question

What role do museums and governments play in acknowledging and addressing historical injustices?

Museums aren’t neutral. They’re curated spaces of memory. That means they have power—over what’s remembered, what’s forgotten, and how we understand the past.

We looked at the Royal BC Museum and BC’s Legislative Assembly to see how these public institutions are (or aren’t) rising to the challenge of reconciliation.

đŸŒ± What’s the Big Idea?

“Through self-governance, leadership, and self-determination, B.C. First Peoples challenge and resist Canada’s ongoing colonialism.”

This quote framed our learning. It’s not just about recognizing harm—it’s about resisting continued harm. It’s about leadership and Indigenous voices not just being heard, but being centered.

🧭 The Trip

April 9–10, Victoria, Parliament, The Royal BC museum, Lots of walking, Lots of information.

At the Legislature, we explored how reconciliation is woven (or not) into BC’s government spaces. One highlight was seeing a canoe carved by the Right Honourable Steven L. Point, alongside this quote:

“We’re in the same canoe. It’s called the Earth… We have to try and work together, paddle in the same direction.”

That line stuck. It reminded me that reconciliation isn’t just about looking back, it’s about how we move forward, together.

At the Royal BC Museum, I saw both the gaps and the progress. The Old Town exhibit was interesting, but noticeably empty of Indigenous voices. The image below, is of the indigenous exhibit that is closed, but there was still a section on indigenous language open.

đŸ€” Skill-Specific – questioning

I can ask questions, research information, and share ideas.

This was a questioning-heavy project. What surprised me was how many of those questions didn’t have answers. Or at least, not simple ones. “Who gets to tell history?” is harder than I thought. But it pushed me to look deeper, past the exhibits, past the plaques, to the systems behind them.

Below all the big reflective questions I am thinking of as I write this, we spent a lot of tine on our field trip think of, and asking questions to the people we met. I think I did a great job of thinking of cogent, real world questions, and posing them well.

Final product

đŸ’€ The Sleep and Procrastination

Let’s be honest. Although I did my best on the trip, I started slow. There was sleep. There was procrastination. There were moments where the project felt too big to finish. I took very long trying to make a good script, and then a while procrastinating not editing the video. Multiple times the video was due the next morning, and I just stayed up and didn’t get anything done. The night before it was due I stayed up until 4 am, and didn’t get really any progress. At this point, I would usually have sighed and went to sleep. But this day was different. I started working then, and stayed up until the morning, getting some of the video done, 2 minutes of video, and all of the voice recording to be exact. The deadline was moved for the final time to be 9 pm that evening, and I got the rest of the video done, with 2 minutes of video left, and some placeholders that I skipped over. The rest was done 2 days after the deadline, and I finally ended the horrendous journey of making the video. 

What can I say, learning moment? 

Will I do this again? Yeah, it’s likely. My biggest takeaway is to have a set (SET!!!) time when I stop staying up, because eventually I need to know that I am procrastinating and what’s best for me is to find a time when I can work with others, or at least talk with them about it. 

🎬 Was the Video Good?

It’s a process to make a video, and of course, you want to end with something good. You visualize it as you write the script, you see the scenes evolve as you drop in clips, and everything comes together as you edit and refine. This leaves you with a unique view of your film that no one else has, and it’s a little flawed. You notice tiny details others won’t, and sometimes miss the big picture.

So… is it good?

Yeah. It’s fine, just too long. I doubt anyone will watch the full thing, which sucks because the ending is the best part. That’s where the message hits hardest.

That said, it made me think differently about who gets to teach, who gets to speak, and who’s still being left out. The video helped me shape that voice.

🧠 Final Thought

If we want to be serious about reconciliation, we need to be serious about who we’re listening to.

Museums, schools, and governments aren’t just places of authority—they’re places of storytelling. And stories shape our future.

My video asked ‘how can Indigenous effectively people tell their own stories?’

If you ask me, that’s where reconciliation lies. What’s your answer?