Wednesday, August 13, 2014

So We Went Away

Walking in Stanley Park
The dude and I went up to Vancouver. We hiked, ate loads of Asian foods from across the continent, and relaxed. We had a fabulous time! I got some stitching done on the flight out but I'm afraid I had my nose in a book the rest of the time.

Precolumbian!
If you ever get to Vancouver, you should head out to the University of British Columbia. The campus isn't much to look at; we took a picture in front of the chemistry building and captioned it, "Sentenced to four years at UBC." However, MOA (the Museum of Anthropology) is unbelievable in the depth and breadth of the collection. There are hundreds of thousands of ethnographic and archaeological objects from native peoples from all over the world, with a special focus on the First Nations of the northwest. An extraordinary number of items are on exhibit or available to see when you pull open a drawer (there's glass). I bring you a photo of Precolumbian textiles. Let that sink in. Precolumbian...textiles. How are they not completely disintergrated? The dude pointed to the big, stripey fragment in the middle, and said, "Kate Spade." True, but hilarious in that the dude is so not a brand name guy. But just when I think he is paying no attention, he surprises me. Family lore says we are part Cree, so I used the available computer database to find some of the Cree items in the holdings. I guess I was awestruck by the beadwork because I didn't take any pictures.

I hear the university also has a nice botanical garden but we were at MOA all day and had no time to spare for that. (It's okay, we went to Butchart Gardens and the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden instead.) I hope you've been making exciting summer discoveries too!

6 comments:

Beth said...

I get off on Pac NW totem poles. The artwork is extraordinary and I love the mythology. Vancouver has wonderful gardens. Have fun exploring.

Catherine said...

I spent two weeks one summer in college living with the northern most Cree band. I was with a grandmother that spoke only Cree ~ except for a few swear words that her grandchildren throught were funny to teach her! I was gifted with some beautiful handwork treasures..

Linda said...

Sounds like a fun trip Nikki.

Linda

Margaret said...

Looks like a wonderful trip! Wow, that museum sounds awesome! I'd love to go to that part of the world someday. Love the pic of you and the dude too!

Alice said...

We just spent last weekend in Vancouver! It was our reward for spending a week moving our daughter to Victoria for university. If you ever get a chance it is also a beautiful place.

Melissa said...

You were almost down the street from me...well, almost. Glad you had a lovely trip here and probably had the best of our summertime weather too. It has been raining the last two days!

Lovely photo of you and the dude!