Detailed Report: Exploring the Secwépemc Museum and Heritage Park

This report details a student's experience visiting the Secwépemc Museum and Heritage Park, focusing on the cultural and historical insights gained. The museum visit provided a deep understanding of the Secwépemc people, their traditions, languages, and artifacts, highlighting their connection to the land and their historical struggles. The report discusses the significance of storytelling, cultural festivals, and the preservation of cultural heritage. It also reflects on the impact of colonialism and the importance of recognizing the rights and history of Indigenous peoples. The student learned about the origin of the word "Kamloops" and the importance of preserving cultural heritage. The report emphasizes the museum's role in educating visitors about the history and culture of the Secwépemc people, fostering a greater appreciation for their contributions and struggles. The student found the visit to be culturally refreshing and insightful, gaining a better understanding of the indigenous culture and their forced extermination from land has been one of the impacts of colonialism and power.

Running head: MUSEUM VISIT
Museum visit
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1MUSEUM VISIT
The aim of this paper is to elaborate the experience of visiting the museum. It is
known as the Secwépemc Museum and Heritage Park. This visit helped to derive knowledge
about different aspects of the colonial history and establishing the link between the lost link
and language. What I noticed at the inner corner of the museum when we entered the park is
that it is an open space for people to look into the different aspects of the traditional culture
of the history of the first nation people.
The museum is the storehouse of the indigenous culture, their tradition, languages,
artefacts and may others objects associated with their culture. What is significant to note here
is that the museum has used every corner of the space in the most effective ways to
showcase the culture and tradition of the people. It brought to my notice from the memories
shared in the outermost part of the museum that the indigenous population are part of the
interior-salish secwepemc to the native place of British Columbia. It let me build the
knowledge that the word “Kamloops” has its genesis in the Secwepemc word of
“Tk’emlups”( Anand et al., 2018). It generally means “where the river meets”. It refers to the
meeting point of the North and south Thompson rivers of the territory (Keeling et al., 2015). I
also realised that these people are the native population who resided in the provinces near to
the rivers and are close to the nature to a great extent. One of the best things I noticed about
their culture is the sharing of narrative though the storytelling(Keeling et al., 2015). There are
number of such artefacts that are essential to understand their culture and practice to a greater
extent. Objects used during their dancing events are one of the most interesting things I
noticed in the space which gave me the idea that these people are very keen in preserving
their culture and tradition to a large extent. It is also significant to note that the museum visit
opened up my eyes towards the significance of preserving one’s one culture and heritage. It
also helped to gain broad idea about the other ethnic groups in the province who has to
undergo the long struggle for the gaining the and protecting their own interest and rights

2MUSEUM VISIT
against the Europeans(Morton, 2017). What made me astonish about the visit is the effort
made by the museum authority to preserve the thousand years old cultures. Being one of the
largest indigenous groups in Canada, it has shared their ties with the rest of the population in
peaceful manner and being part of the country, it is essential to refer to their culture and
history(Nation et al., 2016). Another important thing was the celebration of the cultural
festivals in the open space at the outdoor area of the museum. This gave me the idea that the
celebration of their traditional culture takes place with the sounds of the traditional drums and
circular dance(Ray,2016). This visit was culturally refreshing for me since it helps me to have
better idea of the culture, the people and their practice. This filed trip was crucial to
understand the fact that the indigenous population and their forced extermination form land
has been one of the impacts of colonialism and power. It is also the important to understand
the forceful “seizure” of land since the exploiters thought it is okay to seize the land of the
already habituating population and exploitation became normalised. This aspect of
colonialism and imperialism led to the forceful signing of the treaties with the exploitative
colonial masters(Wong et al., 2017). Nonetheless, it is crucial to note that the museum visit
was indeed exciting and thrilling since it provided the opportunity of learning the new things
about the indigenous culture of one of the most historic tribes of Canada.

3MUSEUM VISIT
Reference
Anand, S. S., Abonyi, S., Arbour, L., Brook, J., Bruce, S., Castleden, H., ... & Lai, C. (2018).
Canadian alliance for healthy hearts and minds: first nations cohort study rationale and
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Keeling, A., & Sandlos, J. (2015). Mining and communities in Northern Canada: History, politics,
and memory (Vol. 3). University of Calgary Press.
Morton, D. (2017). A short history of Canada. McClelland & Stewart.
Nation, M., & Homeland, M. N. (2016). The Métis Nation.
Ray, A. J. (2016). Illustrated History of Canada's Native People: I Have Lived Here Since the World
Began. McGill-Queen's Press-MQUP.
Wong, R. (2017). 12 Decolonizasian: Reading Asian and First Nations Relations in Literature. Asian
Canadian Studies Reader, 225.