I once took a course in British Columbia 颅history at the University of Victoria, and to tell you the truth, I do not remember one single thing, except for a very sad little 颅sentence or two, which, oddly, floats around in my thoughts very frequently.
It was a quote from a settler鈥檚 diary. He had been venturing deep into the 颅forest of central sa国际传媒 and was reflecting on the traumatic experience of being lost and 颅disoriented and preparing to meet his maker in the wilderness all alone (no doubt quite unprepared) when he came upon two elderly Indigenous trappers.
The two Native elders drew a map for the settler. The quote from his diary entry went something like: 鈥淭he Native trappers could not speak a word of English, so instead gave me clear directions by scratching out a 颅little map on a piece of thin bark with a sharp stick.鈥�
Amid the vast variety of history books and material available these days, one that stands out is Go Do Some Great Thing by Crawford Kilian (2020, Harbour Publishing), which recounts the history of sa国际传媒 from the Black pioneering perspective 鈥� a fleeting topic in most history resources. It begins with the gold rush era, when many Blacks began to arrive from the United States, not necessarily to seek gold, but to escape the racism and slavery in America. They first settled in Victoria and created a strong, vibrant Black community, 颅raising their 颅families and setting up businesses 鈥� 颅hairdressing and farming were popular endeavours.
The book reads like an adventure story, describing the characters and challenges the early Victoria immigrants and established inhabitants struggled with, and there鈥檚 a 颅joyous boom-town feel to it.
鈥淚 cannot describe with what joy we hailed the opportunity to enjoy that liberty under 鈥榯he British lion鈥� denied us beneath the pinions of the American Eagle,鈥� wrote the articulate (and dapper) Mifflin Wistar Gibbs.
A Black woman immigrant from 颅California wrote:
鈥淔ar better breathe Canadian air,
Where all are free and well,
Than live in slavery鈥檚 atmosphere,
And wear the chains of hell.鈥�
The new home for the Black population was not without underlying racism, which slowly raised its ugly head in, of all places, the church.
鈥淭he Ethiopians perspired,鈥� complained a certain Mr. Sharpstone on a particularly warm Sabbath. 鈥淭hey always do when out of place.鈥�
Referring to the Ladies Sewing Circle, a journalist for the Colonist observed (in 1861): 鈥淭he male and female members of the circle attend at the lady鈥檚 house; but you never see a black face 鈥︹��
The story moves on to the Lower 颅Mainland, up the Fraser River, to Barkerville, Salt Spring Island and even Sooke, and all the characters we are familiar with play important roles, from Amor De Cosmos to American gunslinger Ned McGowan.
My favourite is Wellington Moses, who claimed he had a cure for baldness by 颅flogging his 鈥渉air invigorator鈥� throughout the Cariboo (his wife tried to drown herself in Victoria鈥檚 harbour!).
Of course, Joe Fortes is mentioned 鈥� years ago, I used to stroll down to the aging orange-painted Joe Fortes Library in 颅Vancouver鈥檚 West End when I was 颅recovering from scarlet fever, and his 颅pictures were everywhere 鈥� everyone knew how he had taught countless children to swim down at English Bay. I sat and read art books on a ripped orange vinyl sofa under his framed photograph on a smudgy wall.
In the epilogue of this interesting book, the author mentions a famous photograph and contemplates stereotypes and multiculturalism. In 鈥淏lack Man Pender,鈥� taken by Vancouver photographer Fred Herzog, known for his street photography 颅throughout the city鈥檚 neighbourhoods, a well-dressed Black man walks with his little girl and their dog through Chinatown.
Any book on Herzog鈥檚 photography is highly enjoyable and his retro images often present a multicultural theme (albeit with a lot of neon Coca-Cola signs).
If you love children鈥檚 books, there is a wonderfully interesting Canadian selection on Black history at the Canadian Children鈥檚 Book Centre in Toronto, whose website is easy to navigate and extensive. One of many selections is Viola Desmond Won鈥檛 Be Budged! by Jody Nyasha Warner and Richard Rudnicki (2010, Groundwood Books, Toronto).
鈥淪he wouldn鈥檛 budge one inch because she knew this seating rule wasn鈥檛 fair to black folks. It was just plain wrong. So the manager and the policeman dragged her out of the theatre in a real rough way.鈥� You can also see a short dramatization of Viola鈥檚 life on CBC鈥檚 Heritage Minutes.
