During its December 2021 meeting, the Board of the Ladysmith & District Historical Society adopted the Heritage and Reconciliation Pledge.

Initiated by Heritage BC and created in 2021 in association with a group of culturally diverse advisors representing Indigenous and other cultural groups within British Columbia, the Heritage and Reconciliation Pledge aims to redress the fact that the heritage field in BC has its roots in western colonial systems of knowledge and practice and that these systems have been imposed on other cultures and peoples within our society to their detriment.

The Pledge acts as a guide to achieving new standards within the heritage sector for understanding cultural diversity, past harms done and the need for reconciliation and a new approach.

“By signing the Pledge, the Ladysmith & District Historical Society acknowledges Indigenous and culturally diverse peoples within our community and states its intent to establish and maintain respectful and welcoming relationships with these peoples” states Quentin Goodbody, LDHS president. “The Society commits to support and engage in public education and advocacy relating to cultural diversity, and to making reconciliation and cultural equity part of its strategic direction. Recognising that it has much to learn about the cultural diversity within our community, the Society will ensure that Indigenous peoples and cultural groups are involved in development of this understanding and in the formation of strategies and programs that the Society develops relating to these groups.”

Signed copies of the Heritage and Reconciliation Pledge are displayed in the Archives and Museum and are posted below.