The Fort

Sounds like something Kafka might have written doesn't it? But I'm writing it instead.

Yesterday, Lori, Beth and I went to Fort Langley for a meeting. This is both an actual fort, and thus a heritage site, and a small town, although I believe it calls itself a city. The fort itself claims to be 'the birthplace of British Columbia'. This is where, in 1858, a treaty was signed, declaring BC to be a colony of the crown of Britain.
The fort itself was established by the Hudson's Bay trading company and so the community was built up by fur traders and wished to be protected by the British crown in much the same way as the East India company became the conduit by which the British Crown was asked to protect and rule India.

Who were these new Canadians anxious to protect themselves from? American gold prospectors, oh and for good measure, the US government who had declared they intended to push their borders up as far as Latitude 40'.

The fort itself was fascinating, there is an original building inside it and others have been rebuilt and the interpreters wear period costume to take the tours around.
It was also a beautiful day for being there, not in the traditional sense of the word, but to me it was.
It had been sleeting all day. Fort Langley was blanketed in snow and there was a slight fog coming up the Fraser river. The stark trees against the snow and the greyness of sleet and fog created an amazing backdrop.

The meeting was for museum educators, but natural and regular history are so intrinsically connected here that there were environmental interpreters there too. The site itself is run by Parks Canada.
We listened to one of the stars of the interpretation community talking about the obstacles and problems associated with interpreting someone else's culture. He talked about the difference between culture and heritage. The way we ourselves live is our culture, the way our grandparents lived is our heritage.

So often here, whether presenting history or natural history, the traditions are bound up with those of the First Nations.

Cal talked to us about Petroforms, these are made from stones being placed in certain shapes and are used for teaching about the world and our relationship to it, but imagine the difficulty in trying to work out exactly what each set of stones mean. We have enough controversy over the meaning of the Stonehenge standing stones in Britain.

For me, it was another incredibly interesting day spent with knowledgeable and fascinating people, but there, at the fort, I was able to see the overlap with my own heritage. The people who came here and signed that treaty were British naval officers and Royal Engineers. When I looked at the furniture, I was able to see the same pieces that I had seen on HMS Warrior in Portsmouth docks.
It's bizarre. Had I different beliefs, I might now be wondering, have I been here before?