Nuu-chah-nulth exhibit replaces Leonardo at RBCM

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Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM) researchers and staff are already excited about the next central exhibit soon to be constructed in the void left by the highly successful Leonardo da Vinci exhibit.

HuupuKwanum - The Treasures of Our Chiefs, is the first exclusively Nuu-chah-nulth exhibit to ever appear in a museum or gallery, and this also marks the first time museum officials have worked almost entirely with First Nations people and Elders in developing an exhibit about their culture.

"The relationship between ourselves and the museum has been second to none," said Willard Gallic, co-ordinator of the HuupuKwanum Liaison Committee. "They used the proper protocol right from the beginning, and they never fail to use the proper protocol in contacting us and asking how they should proceed."

Gallic is obviously excited about the upcoming HuupuKwanum exhibit, and says that much of the work being done right now involves organizing the opening ceremonies.

"We are the facilitators - the hosts," said Grant Hughes, RBCM's director of curatorial services. "But this is the Nuu-chah-nulth story from a purely Nuu-chah-nulth perspective."

As visitors walk through the 5,000 square foot exhibit, they will follow a story line, told to the museum by a number of Nuu-chah-nulth Elders.

"We've all seen First Nations exhibits done by a bunch of white guys," said Hughes. "That is not what this exhibit is about. This is an exhibit on Nuu-chah-nulth culture and history through the voices of Nuu-chah-nulth people."

The museum has been working closely with Willard Gallic, Nelson Keitlah, George Watts, Robert Dennis, and Ron Hamilton throughout the development of HuupuKwanum.

Set to open July 3, HuupuKwanum will feature a number of Nuu-chah-nulth whaling curtains (including one large curtain on loan from the estate of late artist and icon Andy Warhol), canoes, baskets, whistles, rattles, hats, and other valuable artifacts.

The exhibit combines the RBCM's Nuu-chah-nulth collection with pieces borrowed from all over the world. Many Nuu-chah-nulth families are loaning ancient artifacts to the RBCM, as are museums and collectors from as far away as New York and South Africa.

Visitors to the exhibit will work their way through thousands of years of history, building up to the political and social issues faced by today's Nuu-chah-nulth communities.

HuupuKwanum will be at the museum until April 30, 2000, before moving on to Denver Colorado and other stops around the world for the following three years.