Shorts: Arch’al Damage in Stanley Park; Murals in the ‘Leg’ Spur Debate

My BC Anthropology class noted these articles during class discussions:

1) Storms, cleanup take toll on ancient native sites (Vancouver Sun) - Article discusses the impact of recent wind storms on archaeological sites in Stanley Park.

2) Paintings considered insensitive and racist (Vancouver Sun) - Debate over the continued presence of ‘historical’ murals in the BC Legislature rotunda in Victoria has been renewed with the government’s suggestion that they should be moved. Historical inaccuracies and colonial depictions of natives and newcomers prompt the concern.

(Pictures of the murals are available on the BC Archives website. They can be viewed here:

Picture 1 (Building a fur trade fort)
Picture 2 (Ships arrive; maps are drawn)
Picture 3 (First contact)
Picture 4 (Treaty signed)

Note: The quality of these images is low.)

Update

Keep Murals, Put them in Context (Victoria Times Colonist)

Aboriginal people expect and deserve respect. But it’s a two-way street. Art is not a disposable commodity to be used as a pawn in political gamesmanship. Southwell’s murals are historical artworks that also merit respect. If some find them objectionable (and I doubt many do), why not have tour guides or signs that put them into context?

Murals are a reminder that art usually offends someone (Letter to the Vancouver Sun)

The right to freedom of expression in art is equally as important as the technical ability of the painter. In proposing to remove paintings of natives from the legislature, the Liberal government is acting in a way that is not only dangerous to freedom of expression, but just plain stupid. By its very nature, art usually offends someone, whether on purpose or unintentionally … This is political correctness gone wild.

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