The Jonathan Hunt House
The Royal BC Museum once had a large and splendid First Peoples Gallery. Sadly, the 21st century form of censorship known as "decolonization" has made sure nobody can see it. This Big House interior is all that remains on public view.
Strangely, while the room's artistic, cultural and historical importance is self evident, the museum has chosen to leave visitors to the space completely uninformed. There is no physical signage of any kind in the room or outside the entrance. I found the text below hidden away under the "Past Exhibits" menu on the Royal BC Museum's web site.
Since BC's political and cultural establishment seems bent on erasing all history that does not conform to the dictates of decolonization ideology, why is the Jonathan Hunt House even open to the public? The Museum could have locked the door and painted it white to match the walls, and new visitors would have been none the wiser.
The answer may be found in the paragraphs that appear below. Simply put, Jonathan Hunt's descendants own what settler colonialists like me call the intellectual property to the installation. I want to think they were unwilling to go along with the Royal BC Museum's censorship, preferring instead to honor Jonathan Hunt's wish that the Big House be open to all visitors regardless of their ancestry.
Not all forms of restriction on the dissemination of information are alike. This is where cultural relativism enters the conversation. Even before the Royal BC Museum self-censored its account of the history of the Jonathan Hunt House, another category of information about the Big House appears not to have been available to the public. If a description of the meaning of the sculptures has ever been published, I have been unable to find it.
So be it.
Cultural relativism requires that we respect the values and practices of other cultures even (or especially) when we would not approve of them in our own society. Universal notions of morality impose limits on this principle. So does common sense.
I submit that the reason there isn't a printed or virtual interpretive guide to the sculptures and their imagery is that it constitutes secret tribal knowledge. That's evident in a key passage from the information provided by the Royal BC Museum:
"In the potlatch system, the Chief formally presents, to an invited audience, crest images, songs, names, and other prerogatives to which he claims inherited rights."
Jonathan Hunt and his heirs invited the general public to view the material culture inside the ceremonial room. They chose not to share "crest images, songs, names, and other prerogatives to which [they claim] inherited rights" with us.
It's likely that someone not of native ancestry who was versed in the conventions of Northwest art could name the types of beings the sculptures depict, but their particular significance to the clan as recounted in songs and stories would be forever out of reach.
This practice is likely as old as humankind. I can accept it even though the withholding of information by cultural institutions in Canadian and American institutions in service of decolonization ideology makes me see red.
If it turns out that I'm all wet because I simply failed to find the guide I was looking for, I'll gladly revise this text.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A ceremonial house
In the First Peoples Gallery in the Royal British Columbia Museum, you are privileged to enter the house of Chief Kwakwabalasami, the late Jonathan Hunt, a Kwakwaka‘wakw chief who was born and lived his life in the community of Tsaxis (Fort Rupert) on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.
The house is both a museum installation and a real ceremonial house. In the potlatch system, the Chief formally presents, to an invited audience, crest images, songs, names, and other prerogatives to which he claims inherited rights.
The audience’s recognition of the Chief’s claim is its legal validation. Jonathan Hunt potlatched twice for this house, once at Victoria and once at Alert Bay, and spent thousands of dollars in the appropriate manner to confirm his right to display the house and its images.
An arrangement between Jonathan Hunt, his descendants and the Royal BC Museum allows the Museum to exhibit the house permanently, while cultural ownership of the house and its images remains in the Hunt family.
www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/visit/exhibitions/first-peoples-g...
The Jonathan Hunt House
The Royal BC Museum once had a large and splendid First Peoples Gallery. Sadly, the 21st century form of censorship known as "decolonization" has made sure nobody can see it. This Big House interior is all that remains on public view.
Strangely, while the room's artistic, cultural and historical importance is self evident, the museum has chosen to leave visitors to the space completely uninformed. There is no physical signage of any kind in the room or outside the entrance. I found the text below hidden away under the "Past Exhibits" menu on the Royal BC Museum's web site.
Since BC's political and cultural establishment seems bent on erasing all history that does not conform to the dictates of decolonization ideology, why is the Jonathan Hunt House even open to the public? The Museum could have locked the door and painted it white to match the walls, and new visitors would have been none the wiser.
The answer may be found in the paragraphs that appear below. Simply put, Jonathan Hunt's descendants own what settler colonialists like me call the intellectual property to the installation. I want to think they were unwilling to go along with the Royal BC Museum's censorship, preferring instead to honor Jonathan Hunt's wish that the Big House be open to all visitors regardless of their ancestry.
Not all forms of restriction on the dissemination of information are alike. This is where cultural relativism enters the conversation. Even before the Royal BC Museum self-censored its account of the history of the Jonathan Hunt House, another category of information about the Big House appears not to have been available to the public. If a description of the meaning of the sculptures has ever been published, I have been unable to find it.
So be it.
Cultural relativism requires that we respect the values and practices of other cultures even (or especially) when we would not approve of them in our own society. Universal notions of morality impose limits on this principle. So does common sense.
I submit that the reason there isn't a printed or virtual interpretive guide to the sculptures and their imagery is that it constitutes secret tribal knowledge. That's evident in a key passage from the information provided by the Royal BC Museum:
"In the potlatch system, the Chief formally presents, to an invited audience, crest images, songs, names, and other prerogatives to which he claims inherited rights."
Jonathan Hunt and his heirs invited the general public to view the material culture inside the ceremonial room. They chose not to share "crest images, songs, names, and other prerogatives to which [they claim] inherited rights" with us.
It's likely that someone not of native ancestry who was versed in the conventions of Northwest art could name the types of beings the sculptures depict, but their particular significance to the clan as recounted in songs and stories would be forever out of reach.
This practice is likely as old as humankind. I can accept it even though the withholding of information by cultural institutions in Canadian and American institutions in service of decolonization ideology makes me see red.
If it turns out that I'm all wet because I simply failed to find the guide I was looking for, I'll gladly revise this text.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A ceremonial house
In the First Peoples Gallery in the Royal British Columbia Museum, you are privileged to enter the house of Chief Kwakwabalasami, the late Jonathan Hunt, a Kwakwaka‘wakw chief who was born and lived his life in the community of Tsaxis (Fort Rupert) on the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.
The house is both a museum installation and a real ceremonial house. In the potlatch system, the Chief formally presents, to an invited audience, crest images, songs, names, and other prerogatives to which he claims inherited rights.
The audience’s recognition of the Chief’s claim is its legal validation. Jonathan Hunt potlatched twice for this house, once at Victoria and once at Alert Bay, and spent thousands of dollars in the appropriate manner to confirm his right to display the house and its images.
An arrangement between Jonathan Hunt, his descendants and the Royal BC Museum allows the Museum to exhibit the house permanently, while cultural ownership of the house and its images remains in the Hunt family.
www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/visit/exhibitions/first-peoples-g...