map-bg

Land, Indigenous peoples, settlers, and today’s communities.

Since time immemorial, Ancestors of the people called K’ómoks today consisting of the Pentlatch, Ieeksan (eye-ick-sun), Sasitla (sa-seet-la), Xa’xe (ha-hey) and Sathloot (sath-loot) people have been the caretakers of this land, which they called the “Land of Plenty.” This Land of Plenty stretched from what is known today as Kelsey Bay in the north, down to Hornby and Denman Island in the south, and included the watershed and estuary of the Puntledge River, also acknowledging that these boundaries and place names are colonial constructs.

The K’ómoks First Nation refer to the lands between the bays of Comox and the Beaufort mountain range as the path between, it was a travel and trade route to the Alberni corridor and a connection to the indigenous communities on the western side of the island.

Land agreements included the 1884 Settlement Act stripped these lands for its caretakers. At the Museum we acknowledge that we are a colonial created institution, and I would like to thank Charlene Everson, Emily Shopland and Violet Williams for guiding the museum in early discussion on what reconciliation could mean for our organization and how we could create actionable steps; in maintaining a positive dialogue with a forward focus, sharing contemporary K’omoks narratives, and incorporating First Nation languages where they felt it appropriate. Their time and guidance helped us gain insight and learn how to best support their voice in our museum’s walls. This is an ongoing process and we have so much more to learn.

Reader View
Loading...
3 Asian Canadian miners with hand Pick and Shovels
Three miners (981.326.001)
Read Story Up, Down, Spacebar or Scroll
Story • 4 Min read
Mining

Death and Disaster: 1903

Wednesday, 15th of July

A person shall not,…have in his possession any…lucifer match or apparatus of any kind for striking light.’

General Rule Eight, Coal Mines Regulation Act (1897).

On the night of July 15th, 1903, an explosion of firedamp, a highly dangerous gas, occurred in No. 6 Mine in Cumberland.

It killed sixteen miners and injured four others. All of the miners who died were Chinese.

According to the Mine Report, the accident was caused by ‘negligence on the part of the sufferers’ as rescuers found matches, tobacco, and cigarettes in the dead men’s pockets.

Davy Safety Lamp
lamp, Davy (988.029.001)

Cumberland’s miners, of all origins, often broke the rules and brought matches and banned substances underground. They would also tamper with safety lamps, removing the protective gauze around the flame to get a better quality of light.

When a Chinese miner broke the rules and people were injured, it strengthened long-held prejudice about Chinese workers’ ability to work ‘safely’ underground.

Sadly, we know little of the sixteen miners that lost their lives that day. We are not sure of their names as even official sources are inconsistent. Below is the list supplied by the Inspector of Mines for BC