Friday, September 3, 2021 - Sunday, September 5, 2021
All Day


Museum Historical Tours

Join us for a wonderful series of events over the Labour Day weekend and learn more about the past, present and future of Gabriola.

Purchase and pick up your tour map “pass” from the museum.

Cost (sliding scale):

  • 1-day: $15-$30
  • 2 day: $35-$50
  • 3-day: $55-$65

Get a different participation stamp each day then turn in your stamped map at the Museum for a chance at prizes (one chance for each stamp).

Tour suggestions: bring your own water bottle and a folding chair or a blanket to sit on.

Covid protocols will be in place as per health and safety regulations.

Friday September 3rd

10:00 – 11:30 am

@ GIRO

VIP Pass Behind the Scenes

Join Michelle Kresnyak for a behind the scenes tour of GIRO to learn more about this unique part of our Island culture… past, present, future… Ever wonder how GIRO came to be? What’s C2C? What’s in-store for the future…? Enter through the pedestrian gate to find out!

1 pm – 2:30 pm

@ Gabriola Sands Provincial Park, Xwcumi:lucun

Dave Bodaly

Snuneymuxw knowledge keeper Dave Bodaly will be talking about the significance of this location, Xwcumi:lucun, for the Snuneymuxw people; learn how to say its SNF name in Hul’qumi’nun and the meaning of name.

Saturday September 4th

9:30 am – 10:30 am

 @ Folklife Village:

Expo 86 to Gabriola Village

Join Steve Wohlleben, original Village developer, to get the inside scoop…purchase, storage, transport, assembly…

11:30 am – 12:30 pm 

@ Fell Road:

The McRae Land & Land Covenant

Join Anne Landry and other members of the Gabriola Land and Trails Trust (GaLTT) at the McRae covenant and learn about the importance of conservation covenants and what makes this place special.

1 pm – 2:30 pm

@ the Museum:

Every Child Matters

Join the Truth & Reconciliation Committee at the Museum for a presentation contextualizing the Orange Shirt/Every Child Matters fundraiser as a response to colonial Canadian history and politics.

Includes information about key Canadian documents, dates, and people and an Opening Prayer and Welcome by SFN Elder Geraldine Manson.

Elder Manson will also share her insights on residential schools. New books and our Path of Remembrance as well!

3 pm – 4 pm

@ Surf Lodge:

Charlotte Cameron and John Capon

Learn about the history of the Surf Lodge and Malcom Lowry’s inspiration for writing October Ferry to Gabriola.

Sunday September 5th

10:30 am – 11:30 am

@ Pages Inn on Silva Bay (Sunday Market location):

Stories of Silva Bay

Join Susanne Tabata, Danna Lewis, and Gloria Hatfield. Presentation will include update on the Japanese of Silva Bay: sawmill, store, fish camp…and more.

1 pm – 2 pm

@ Community Hall

Mystery Speaker

Community Hall Stories with Mystery Speaker

2:30 am – 3:30 pm

@ Fell Road:

The McRae Land & Land Covenant

Join Anne Landry and other members of the Gabriola Land and Trails Trust (GaLTT) at the McRae covenant and learn about the importance of conservation covenants and what makes this place special.

Re-Storying Gabriola

Contextualizing Orange Shirt/Every Child Matters Day

This is the first of a series of stories to expand on the museum’s history related to the Snuneymuxw First Nation and Indigenous relations more broadly. This new series will both contextualize the history of European colonization while re-storying the centuries long presence of Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island, “a living story that continues to unfold”, including here on Gabriola Island (see www.snuneymuxw.ca/nation/history).

Hosted by the GHMS Truth and Reconciliation Committee, we invite you to join us on September 4th to learn about the history that settler communities share with Indigenous people.

We begin our series by contextualizing our Orange Shirt fundraising event, as a response to colonialism, with a short presentation on key Canadian dates, people, and documents important to understanding the sad legacy of unmarked mass gravesites on the grounds of what have been euphemistically called residential ‘schools’. This legacy is marked on September 30 as Orange Shirt/Every Child Matters Day, the day when trucks and buses began arriving to collect Indigenous children and take them away to the harsh reality of ‘cultural assimilation’ in residential schools (see www.ictinc.ca/blog/what-is-orange-shirt-day). Snuneymuxw First Nations Elder Geraldine Manson will give an opening prayer and welcome to SFN unceded territory as well as share her insights as a residential school survivor.

After our presentation we invite you to explore our new books including a book telling the story of Phyllis Webstad, a residential school survivor, who started the Orange Shirt/Every Child Matters Day. Our Path of Remembrance and Honouring Indigenous Children will be open for those who choose to walk a path of Truth in recognizing the key events and documents that led to the tragic history of residential institutions in Canada.


Buy Your Tickets

Bookings are closed for this event.