Museum set to celebrate 50th birthday

It was June 10, 1967, during Canada’s 100th year, when Kelowna Centennial Museum opened in its first permanent space at the downtown corner of Ellis Street and Queensway Avenue.

That means the facility, now called Okanagan Heritage Museum, is half a century old and deserving of a party just prior to Canada’s sesquicentennial.

The shindig will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at the museum, and all are welcome.

The Westbank First Nation’s Sncewips Heritage Museum is helping with the festivities. Chief Roxanne Lindley will say a few words, birthday bannock will be served, a joint video project of the two museums will be debuted, Levi Bent from the Sylix Language House will perform, and language workshops will be presented.

Museum staff will also lead informal “un-tours” of the building.

Since first opening in 1967, a second level was added in 1976 to provide archives storage and more display room.

Before 1967, the museum had operated out of makeshift spaces downtown.

“We are delighted to partner with the Sncewips Heritage Museum to celebrate the evolving role of museums in society today,” said Okanagan Heritage Museum executive director Linda Digby.

“Museums have a different role during the sesquicentennial than we did during the centennial. In particular, the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (about abuse suffered by indigenous peoples in the Indian residential school system) reminds us that it is time to question the stories museums have been telling in our galleries.”