A Place Called Cumberland

Review By Ryan Blaak

February 27, 2025

In 2020, a major renovation of the Cumberland Museum & Archives initiated a process of “examining the fundamental concept of what the museum meant to the community and […] looking at how the museum disseminates the many diverse and divergent perspectives that shape human histories” (viii).  This led to a reimagining of the museum’s exhibitions, revealing many stories beyond the museum’s displays.  These stories inspired the creation of A Place Called Cumberland – an engaging collection of twelve viewpoints on Cumberland and its history.

One of these viewpoints, Andrew Findlay’s exploration of Cumberland’s recent transformation into a mountain biking destination, points to a crucial idea resonating throughout the book: “[t]o understand where Cumberland is today, you need to understand where Cumberland was yesterday” (134).  Yet, the history of a place is often complex and nuanced.  Traci Skuce reflects on her ambivalent first months after moving to Cumberland in 1999, observing another core theme of the book that “history is layered, and complicated and never one-sided” (9).

Both of these chapters, along with the book as a whole, highlight the importance of positioning Cumberland within its historical context.  However, this historical context is neither simple nor straightforward.  The result is an engaging and diverse set of perspectives on Cumberland’s history.

Beyond the firsthand accounts of Skuce and Findlay, there is Dr. Tom L.Q. Wong’s story of growing up in Cumberland’s Chinatown in the 1930s and 1940s.  Russel Sakauye  explores the history of Japanese Canadians in Cumberland, their important role in the forest industry, and the birth of Cumberland Chow Mein (recipe included).  Kim Bannerman examines an August 1898 train accident which claimed nine lives.  Her quest to learn more about two unnamed Japanese victims explores how the unnamed are devalued and demeaned (28).  While she discovers their names, K. Nanko and Osano, their stories remain incomplete, highlighting that while history cannot always be fully resolved, the effort to do so is worthwhile.

No story of Cumberland is possible without exploring the deep roots of resource extraction and resulting vibrant labour movement.  Such stories are told in Lynne Bowen’s discussion on Italian miners, Rod Mickleburgh’s account of labour leader Joe Naylor, and Matt Rader’s conversational piece about TV series set in Cumberland.

The book recounts lesser-known stories too.  Dave Flawse tells of the criminal thief Flying Dutchman, killed by police in Union Bay.  Bevin Clempson shares about Diana Picard Day Piket, who owned and ran The Cumberland Hotel. Dawn Copeman highlights Dr. Irene Mouce, a “pioneer plant pathologist born in Cumberland” and the namesake for a species of red-belted conk fungi that grows in Cumberland Forest (92).

It is also important to highlight that A Place Called Cumberland recounts stories that  “are all written from a settler’s viewpoint” – something the book openly acknowledges and discusses (xii).  Importantly, the book situates the story of Cumberland within the “Land of Plenty” home of the K’ómoks First Nation and their ancestors, consisting of the Pentlatch, Ieeksan, Sasitla, Xa’xe, and Sathloot peoples (xi).

Yet, there is a notable tension in the book as settler society has broadly attempted to erase, destroy, and minimize the histories of Indigenous peoples.  This tension is explored, in part, in Grant Shilling’s examination of the question “Whose Land is it Anyways?” and efforts to raise welcome poles in Cumberland’s Peace Park.  In doing so, Shilling highlights wonderful new opportunities for reconciliation and respectful relationships that will surely change the understanding of Cumberland’s past, present, and future. But also, that there is more work to be done and more stories to be told in this regard.

In the end, A Place Called Cumberland offers a thoughtful and diverse discussion of Cumberland’s history.  Where appropriate, the stories told are connected back to primary and secondary sources, making it a well documented study of place.  However, it goes beyond this by adding to the collective narrative of Cumberland.  The stories told and themes presented are both unique to Cumberland but also representative of the larger themes that are facing many small communities.   This makes it a book that any British Columbian, or indeed anyone interested in the histories of small towns, will find worth reading.