(Photo credit: Adam Donnelly).

By Stephanie Swensrude

Black History Month

Kamloops Museum and Archives honours history and looks forward for Black History Month

Feb 15, 2022 | 4:17 PM

KAMLOOPS — When it comes to Black History in Kamloops, many would immediately think of John Fremont Smith. He was a remarkably successful Black man who was a businessperson, served on one of the first Kamloops city councils and was a federal official.

His story is told year after year in February — and for good reason. There’s no denying he is part of the Black history of the Interior region. But Mirella Ntahonsigaye, interim educator at the Kamloops Museum and Archives, wants to see more depth in these conversations.

“It’s a little bit bigger than the achievements of one single person.”

While honoring his place in history is important, his story can be oversimplified as a Black man who was successful despite his circumstances, said Ntahonsigaye.

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“It’s a story of someone who is very plainly a success story,” she said.

Articles and records suggest Smith started a council to reform society after he was called a racial slur, showting that, although he was respected by some, he was still a Black man in a settler town. Ntahonsigaye said that fact can be overlooked.

“All of these little curiosities get lost in creating a profile of a single remarkable person who, we’re not denying his remarkability, but there is a humanity here,” she said.

In order to add more depth to Kamloops Black history, Ntahonsigaye hopes to establish a film club at the museum.

“The hope is to bring people together to watch films by people from Africa and its diaspora to watch films that display everyday, lived experiences,” she said.

She also hopes to start a literature club featuring authors of diverse backgrounds.

“The hope of those two programs [is that they will] lift up the discussion of Blackness outside of Black History Month, February,” said Ntahonsigaye.

Keep an eye on the Kamloops Museum and Archives Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for announcements on these clubs, if you’d like to acknowledge Black Canadian history while celebrating their future.

“I think talking about history is just as important as discussing the contemporary,” said Ntahonsigaye.