| The Akerman Museum on Salt Spring Island |
Akerman Museum in the Fulford Valley, south Salt Spring Island houses
artifacts of local history that go back hundreds of years. Thousands of items, from tools to clothing,
jewelry to beads, tell the story of native and pioneer culture on Salt Spring Island.
The museum was the dream of, and was built by Patrick's father Bob Akerman.
" Dad" is the grandson of one of the earliest settlers in the Fulford Valley. His
vast collection outgrew the family home. Using cedar logs that he felled and pealed from his property, Dad built a log cabin in the style that his grandfather first built in the valley.
The Museum is a "tribute to the early settlers" and to the native Indian history of this area. Dad was especially close to his maternal grandmother, (Tuwa'H' Wiye-A) who was the daughter of a Cowichan hereditary Indian chief.
In the museum, the collection has many stone tools, such as hammers and scrapers, but also such rarities as, for example, a curious small object, just a few inches long, used as a " soul catcher" by a shaman. With it a lost soul could be returned to its owner, thus restoring that person to well being. There is also a smoothed stone massage, used as a heated comfort for strained or sore muscles. There is a fire starter, with deep hole from which countless fires must have
once emerged, a stone bowl and pestle for grinding paint for decoration, a whalebone bark-beater for use in preparing cedar bark for clothing.
Collections of baskets for cooking and gathering, and native hats, illustrate the weaving and decorative skills of the native peoples.
There are countless other pieces in Bob Akerman's collection. The museum is open to all and a trip to Salt Spring without visiting it would be a shame.
Please contact Patrick by
email, or call (250) 537-9977 to arrange your visit. |
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