Cathy English is putting together the multitude of puzzle pieces that make up Revelstoke’s history.
English has been working in the Revelstoke Museum and Archives since 1983 and has seen it through its entire transformation. “Visible storage” is how she described the museum in its early days – shelves filled with objects that had little connection to anything bigger.
English has managed to take those context-less “storage” pieces and find the stories that accompany them.
One of the most important projects that English is a part of is sharing the history of Indigenous peoples from the land. Many people that English would come across believed that Revelstoke never had Indigenous nations because they were never taught about it.
“Even though it only went back about 130 years when the Sinixt were pushed out of their territories, the narrative had written them out. So we’re making attempts to tell that forgotten story and to tell stories with the starting point of Indigenous people being here,” she said.
Re-telling Revelstoke’s entire, untold history is one of English’s biggest passions and roles at the museum.
More than that, she wanted all of the people living in and visiting Revelstoke to learn about their own stories that stem from the land.
“A lot of people end up hugging me or end up in tears because it’s filling gaps in their own knowledge about themselves and about their family and their personal connections. I find that really gratifying and quite moving,” English said.
She has done a lot of work to share the history of Chinese immigrants that came to Revelstoke in the early 1900s. This history is not a pleasant one due to the racism and discrimination the people faced, but it is critical to tell, English said.
She also works alongside the people of these minority backgrounds so that everyone has the ownership to tell their own narratives.
“It’s really important to honour diverse stories because those aren’t always easy to find because who was writing the newspapers back then? It was white males,” English said. “There’s a lot of perspectives that aren’t easy to find. It involves a lot of digging and realizing that just because something isn’t apparent doesn’t mean it’s not important.”
She says she has one of the best jobs and has plans on expanding the resources from the museum available online, but eventually, she would like to take a step back.
“I want to retire soon, although people say I’m not allowed to,” she said with a laugh.
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