Earlier this year I was fortunate to travel to Victoria to attend the 2017 Archives Association of British Columbia Conference. During this conference I was introduced to the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) project, Project Naming. In short, Project Naming is a collaborative effort between Nunavut Sivuniksavut; Nunavut’s Department of Culture, Languages, Elders and Youth; and LAC. In Project Naming, photographic records of Canada’s northern Indigenous population with little or no description are posted on various social media platforms. Project Naming asks the community if anyone recognizes the individual(s) in the photograph or has any other relevant information so that Library and Archives Canada can update their archival record.
From the Library and Archives Canada website:
“Project Naming enables Indigenous individuals to engage in the identification of photographs from Library and Archives Canada… the majority of individuals depicted in the images in LAC’s collections were never identified. Many archival descriptions relating to events or activities are absent or have dated information (e.g. place names, band names, or terminology). Or information is based on original inscriptions and captions found on the records, and hence reflects the biases and attitudes of non-Aboriginal society at the time.”
Inspired by Project Naming, today I am th’ith’exwstélémét (asking for help). In the J. O. Booen fonds is a glass plate negative depicting what we have been told are two Stó:lō women with a woolly dog. The photograph was taken by James Orville Booen who was based in Chilliwack from October 1895-1897. Beyond that, we know very little about the photograph.
Do you recognize the women in this photograph?
Have you seen the print of this negative at a family or friends house?
If you have any information regarding this photograph please feel free to contact the Chilliwack Museum and Archives, or myself directly, and we will happily update our archival records. I would also like to thank the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre for confirming the use of this photograph.
Thank you for looking.
604-795-5210 ext. 104
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