One year ago today, the Digital Indigenous Sport Gallery (DISG) was launched at the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. Three years ago the digitization project was started with the goal of increasing the accessibility of the Indigenous Sport Gallery and to highlight the accomplishments and contributions of Indigenous athletes, coaches and builders to British Columbia’s sport heritage. With the increasing need for museums to utilize technology, the DISG includes a 360-degree virtual tour of the gallery featuring 20 3D artifacts, 14 video profiles of featured athletes and Honoured Members, and an audio narration by Tewanee Joseph (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw), all of which are accessible through mobile, computer, and virtual reality headsets. With over 200 people in attendance for the launch event, it marked the start of a year of interacting with the sports community and spreading awareness of the DISG across the province. 

Later in the summer, the Maple Ridge 2024 BC Summer Games hosted over 3,000 youth for BC’s largest amateur sports competition. We activated two nights of the BC Summer Games, with a focus on connecting with the youth participants of the event, all of which are interested in sport. To cap the year off, Vancouver hosted the 111th Grey Cup which included a week of festivities to get the city ready for the game. The Hall was a part of the Family Zone at Grey Cup Festival which hosted over 50,000 visitors over four days. The week started off with school groups from across the Lower Mainland, all of which enjoyed navigating the DISG through the virtual reality headsets. Using the VR headsets as a part of this activation served as a way to connect with youth and get them excited to learn about Indigenous contributions to sport.

Through developing the DISG we were able to connect with partners throughout the Indigenous arts, culture and sport sectors. We have hosted the Museum of Anthropology’s Native Youth Program for a half-day workshop at the Hall. The Native Youth Program is a summer program for Indigenous youth, ages 15 to 18, that provides youth with training and work experience at the Museum of Anthropology while giving them a chance to explore their identity through arts and culture. The program has graduated over 200 Indigenous students and in 2019 the Native Youth Program celebrated its 40th anniversary. During the group’s visit, they had a guided tour of the Indigenous Sport Gallery and had the opportunity to hear from featured athlete, Lara Mussell-Savage (Sqwá First Nation), who is a Native Youth Program alumni. We were also lucky enough to host a group of Indigenous youth from Líl̓wat Nation through Ultimate Spirit. Ultimate Spirit is an Indigenous focused program carried out by the BC Ultimate Society to create an experience where participants can learn the game of ultimate and create an atmosphere where participants can reach their full potential. 

In addition to activations throughout the last year, the Hall has continued to focus on how we can have our featured athletes tell their own stories. For the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Day, we hosted Terry Felix (Sts’ailes Nation) as a part of the Hall’s Speaker Series where he talked about his experience playing soccer growing up in Sts’ailes and becoming the first Indigenous person to play on the Vancouver Whitecaps, Canadian national team, and Canadian Olympic team. While in Prince George, the Hall worked with featured athlete Dawn Murphy (Lake Babine First Nation) to present our Hero In You program to two schools and a library in the city. Dawn was able to discuss her experiences in wrestling during the 1980s and how it served as a way for her to connect with her culture.

During the last year we have brought the legacy of Indigenous sport and its impact to the fabric of British Columbia sport heritage to thousands of people. We hope that this continues and that more and more people can learn about the amazing accomplishments of Indigenous athletes, teams, coaches and organizations. If you know of an event that you think the DISG could be a part of or a story you think should be included on the DISG, please reach out to hello@bcsportshall.com.