First Peoples

The Beaty Biodiversity Museum is on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Musqueam people. We thank the Musqueam for their ongoing partnership with the museum in furthering our understanding of culturally diverse ways of knowing our world. Their website, musqueam.bc.ca is an incredible resource to learn more, we also recommend visiting them if you are able to!

The Beaty Museum strives to incorporate unappropriated First Peoples’ perspectives and partnerships within our museum collections, exhibits, and activities. The BC curriculum aims to include Indigenous ways of knowing into teaching and learning. We understand the importance of bringing this content into the classroom and therefore have compiled resource materials that facilitate implementation and build greater understanding of First Peoples’ knowledge and perspectives on biodiversity. Click here to read more about the Beaty’s Indigenous Initiatives.

At the Beaty

Culture at the Centre

A permanent display at the Beaty Museum that aims to demonstrate the interconnectedness of language, land, and culture. Follow stories that connect six communities to their territories, represented through five cultural centres: Musqueam (Musqueam Cultural Education Centre), Squamish (Squamish-Lil’wat Cultural Centre), Lil’wat (Squamish-Lil’wat Cultural Centre), Heiltsuk (Heiltsuk Cultural Education Centre), Nisg̱a’a (Nisg̱a’a Museum) and Haida (Haida Gwaii Museum and Haida Heritage Centre at Kay Llnagaay).

Herring Song

As one part of the Culture at the Centre exhibit in collaboration with Heiltsuk Cultural Education Centre. Learn about the significance of herring to the Heiltsuk people through information and song.

Sturgeon Harpoon Knowledge Web

The Beaty Museum collaborated with secəlenəxʷ Morgan Guerin, Musqueam Knowledgeholder/Aboriginal Fisheries Officer and Jason Woolman, Archivist with the Musqueam First Nation to create a website with videos and interactive tools to illustrate the use and creation of a sturgeon harpoon.

Other Resources

Museum of Vancouver

The Museum of Vancouver‘s mission is to be a gathering space that fosters connection, learning, and new experiences of Vancouver’s diverse communities and histories. You can visit them in person or virtually.
We thank the Museum of Vancouver for their generosity in sharing some of these learnings with our visitors.

  • Indigenous Plant Guide
    “The Pacific Northwest is the most biodiverse region in Canada. Local Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) relating to Indigenous plants is extensive with more than 145 species utilized by members of the host nations for technology, food, medicine and ceremony. This guide spotlights a few of these plants, found growing in the Courtyard Garden at Museum of Vancouver, in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim and  hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the languages spoken by the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh communities. We thank them for sharing some of their knowledge with us.” Learn the names of many plants local to our area, growing in the Unity Indigenous Plant Garden and at the Beaty Biodiversity Museum.
  • “The Unity Indigenous Plant Garden-A Living Exhibition was created in partnership with the Musqueam, Skwxwu7mesh and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.” On this webpage, learn about the people who contributed to this garden and view photos of the space.
  • Temíxw Stories from the Land
    “The triptych painting, “Temíxw,” was created through an artist residency offered by the Squamish Nation Language, Art, and Culture Department with funding received from the First People’s Cultural Foundation in 2017. The artist, Chief Ian Campbell, followed traditional protocols by calling witnesses at an unveiling ceremony held at the Museum of Vancouver on December 13, 2019.
    “Temíxw” translates as “land, earth, dirt,” but this vibrant painting contains much more than local geography. A diversity of stories, important places, and traditional knowledge taught to Chief Ian Campbell by his Squamish and Musqueam family members, and other elders from his community, animate this map.
    On October 28, 2020, Chief Campbell selected several stories, which he deemed appropriate for sharing with museum visitors and local educators, to create an online program. We thank Chief Ian Campbell for his generosity.
    We would also like to remind museum visitors that while we have been invited to listen to these stories, they do not belong to us, and we are not meant to tell them ourselves.”
  • Acts of Resistance
    “Acts of Resistance, showcases the artwork of seven indigenous artist activists from the Pacific Northwest, whose designs flew from the Iron Workers Memorial bridge on July 3, 2018 to protest the Trans Mountain Expansion Pipeline project. Swaysən, Will George, a Tsleil-Waututh grassroots leader not only designed one of the featured banners, but also rappelled from the Second Narrows bridge as part of the seven-person aerial blockade to prevent an oil tanker from leaving terminal. In this exhibition, Will George will share his firsthand experience as a member of the aerial blockade in a video created in collaboration with multi-media artist Ronnie Dean Harris, whose artwork also flew in the path of tanker traffic.”
    This webpage includes video, virtual tours, audio clips, and photographs.

First Nations Education Steering Committee FNESC

FNESC is a First Nation led collective focused on advancing quality education for all First Nations learners. Their website describes the work they do and offers current information about available programs, updated government policies and education issues.

First People’s Map

The First Peoples’ Cultural Council has launched an interactive online map of British Columbia that represents Indigenous language, culture and places. Information of language regions, cultural landmarks, and heritage are provided in this living and growing resource. Find audio pronunciations of greetings, Indigenous stories, images, and videos of First Nations art.
Additional information on First Nations artwork and practices are displayed on a second interactive map.

First Voices

First Peoples’ Cultural Council of BC created FirstVoices, an online Indigenous language archiving and teaching resource. Each section regarding a First Nations Language is accompanied with information, games and photos. There is also a version designed for children.

Coyote Science

Coyote Science takes viewers on a culturally rich adventure into the fun and wonder of Indigenous science. Watch episodes, play the Coyote Quest game, and check out the cheat sheets.

AskiBOYZ

Two urbanized Cree teenagers from Toronto are on a life altering quest to 13 different Canadian rural Indigenous communities where they will take on whatever challenges come their way. The journey may prove to be difficult, occasionally putting unnecessary stress on their brotherly relationship. But, with the help of their mentor, Cassius Spears, Narragansett Nation, they will walk away with the respect and tradition taught by each Elder and/or Knowledge Keeper they meet. The website contains episodes as well as resources for educators – check out the series of ‘how to videos’ in both English and Cree! Have a look at the one-page info pages for educators that link to each episode. Watch the APTN docu-series trailer here

Indigenous Education Resource Inventory – BC’s Curriculum

This resource list (PDF download) is compiled by the BC Ministry of Education in collaboration with other groups. It includes a variety of resources such as books, articles, websites, videos and more, with descriptions and information on how to access them.

BC Educational Resource Acquisition Consortium (ERAC)

ERAC’s website offers a multitude of tutorials and videos to help create an entry point into Indigenous education.

Oceans Network Canada

The University of Victoria’s Ocean Networks Canada monitors the west and east coasts of Canada and the Arctic to continuously deliver data in real-time for scientific research that helps communities, governments and industry make informed decisions about our future. Using cabled observatories, remote control systems and interactive sensors, and big data management ONC enables evidence-based decision-making on ocean management, disaster mitigation, and environmental protection.

Community observatories are scaled-down versions of Ocean Networks Canada’s existing major observatories that still allow for all the major benefits that come from the capability to conduct year-round, continuous undersea monitoring. Community observatories are significantly less complex, allowing for a quick and easy deployment with a substantially reduced cost. Click through to learn about the community observatories in Campbell River, Kitamaat Village, Mill Bay, Prince Rupert, and Cambrige Bay.

School District Sites

Multiple district webpages have teaching resources, lesson plans, and video to support Indigenous perspectives. Here are a few of them:

UBC Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT)

CTLT is committed to collaborative, ethical, evidence-based, and reciprocal research and educational resource development informed through engagement with local Indigenous communities and scholars across different disciplines. View their Research & Resources online.

qeqən: Musqueam House Posts Guide
Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery

The walking tour of Musqueam House Posts at UBC conveys how the Musqueam house posts on campus, both past and present, are markers of Musqueam’s relationship with its territory through time, particularly with the land that is now commonly known as UBC. The guide is part of a larger initiative of the Belkin to animate outdoor artworks on campus, both within and outside of its collection. The guide provides context for how the house posts relate to one another, Musqueam territory and to UBC history.

Xwi7xwa Library Research Guides

Use Research Guides to get started on a research topic. Xwi7xwa librarians continually evaluate books, article indexes, websites, and more to find reliable, authoritative information on relevant topics. Research Guides include search strategies for finding resources that are relevant to the multidisciplinary study of Indigenous topics and materials written from Indigenous perspectives.

View the full list of Research Guides here.  These include Two-Spirit and Indigenous Queer Studies, Indigenous Land Based Activism, Indigenous K-12 Education, and many more topics.

Indigenous Pollinator Plant Map

In 2021, the David Suzuki Foundation reached an agreement with the Musqueam Indian Band in B.C.’s Lower Mainland to collaborate to create a map of indigenous wildflowers. The map was inspired by the Butterflyway Project, which encourages volunteers to plant native plants throughout their neighbourhoods to support local butterfly species. Read more about the project, explore artwork, and find the map on the David Suzuki webpage.