NEW WESTMINSTER MUSEUM SHIFTING COURSE

The New Westminster Museum is shifting course in a significant way. For many years, it is the story of the city's colonial history that has occupied most of the museum. But times, they are a changing. Recently, they introduced a museum-wide Indigenous Exhibit called 'Downstream where the Waters Mix'. It heralds the beginning of a move to more inclusive stories of the city's past, according to Michele Taylor, Museum Curator. The above mentioned exhibit was two years in the making, and a lot of the discussion was related to creating trust. The Indigenous Exhibit curator Nadine Spence was somewhat concerned that the exhibit, which features art work from First Nations across BC, would be relegated to the back of the museum. That didn't sit right with her. So it was decided that the exhibit would be spread throughout the museum with the anomalous backdrop featuring the settler arrival and history. While this is the first big step in a different direction for the Museum as explained by Michele Taylor, they are gradually shifting over to exhibits that features stories of the diverse groups of people who live here, or have been pushed out of the area.