Digging Deep
Story appeared in the 2019 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.
BY HAYLEY PICARD, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Time travel…it’s a favourite subject of science fiction authors and scientists alike. At the turn of the 20th century, Albert Einstein published his theory of special relativity, hypothesizing that time travel was theoretically possible. The idea of moving back in time to observe history in the making is a tantalizing prospect for any student.
Grade 8 Teacher, Danika Farrugia, and QMS Archivist, Carey Pallister, helped students explore the past through archival research and learning experiences with alumni Sylvia Dyer (Green, ‘52) and Dr. Genevieve Hill (’99).
Time travel…it’s a favourite subject of science fiction authors and scientists alike. At the turn of the 20th century, Albert Einstein published his theory of special relativity, hypothesizing that time travel was theoretically possible. The idea of moving back in time to observe history in the making is a tantalizing prospect for any student. The faint outline of who Charles Hoey had been was gradually being coloured in and brought to life.
Bridging the past with the present, Hoey family friend Sylvia Dyer (Green, ’52) was invited to meet with the students in the QMS Archives to share her personal memories. With her personal treasure trove of newspaper clippings and photos in hand, Sylvia filled in further details on Hoey’s life and the early days of QMS.
“The artifact and documents are only valuable if there is someone there who can help us to understand and interpret the information,” explains Alexander Munro. “We could have gotten all the information we wanted for our presentation from a Wikipedia page if we wanted to, but we wouldn’t have gotten nearly as much insight into his [Hoey’s] life and the magnitude of his standing with the School. We wouldn’t have discovered how much the Hoey family was admired and how much Charles was admired after his acts of valour in the war.”
“Charles Hoey was a regular boy – he was like you, and he did something extraordinary,” Farrugia pointed out to the boys. Then she challenged them, “What will you do to make your mark?”
To continue fanning the student’s interest in the past and build on their use of primary source materials, the researchers were partnered with Dr. Genevieve Hill (’99) to explore the BC Museum Archives in preparation for an actual archaeological dig to find a lost QMS time capsule. As the time capsule burial had not been sanctioned by School administration, no official record of its location and contents exist. Oral lore placed the capsule in a small geographical location, so the boys leapt to the challenge with with dreams of finding buried treasure.
Passage down the wormhole continued as these time travelers explored the BC Museum Archives and learned how the massive repository curates artifacts, art, and documents, and hosts the history of British Columbia’s people. They were able to compare archival processes and facilities with those of the other archives they had visited and appreciate their differences. Dr. Hill’s tour also provided her the opportunity to enlighten the QMS students on the historical legacy of the campus lands.
Teaching young scholars how to execute an academically correct archaeological dig in a single visit, is impossible, so Dr. Hill focused on embedding the respect of context. The place where an artifact is found needs to be considered by its soil, the site type, the creatures that inhabited it and the layer the artifact is found. All of this information—context—can offer a different story. Remove the artifact from its context and the information of its maker is gone, rendering the item all but useless in archaeological terms. Thankfully for these students, their search was for an item that had a history of its makers and why it was placed in the ground, making the manual work ahead of them a little easier to understand… but not necessarily preparing them for the possibility of failure.
The reality is, archaeology is hard. Each participant needs to be well-informed, pay meticulous attention to detail, establish an accurate measurement grid, take painstaking records, and execute exhausting manual labour to move heavy materials for screening. The mental pictures of Indiana Jones discovering the Holy Grail under a church in a secret passage quickly dissolved. “It was way harder than I expected,” admits Cayman Atkins. “Having one hour a week just wasn’t enough time to do it all.”
Denzel Van Oyen agrees that the reality of a dig site was not exactly what he had in mind. “There were so many rocks,” he laments. “I was surprised to see the kinds of tools they [archaeologists] use to actually sift dirt from a massive pile of debris. We would occasionally find something, but not a lot.”
Alexander laughs as he recounts his “ah-ha!” moment. “The time capsule was a social construct. A real one, but we were actually looking for archeological knowledge. It would be cool if someone finds the capsule at some point, but I think it’s just as valuable that we got out there,” he continues. “We got to be outside and experience what it was like to research a site, sifting through all the dirt, trying to find bits of micro-plastics and chipped pottery. Sometimes the context is more important than the artifact.”
Parker nods his head in agreement. “I don’t think they wanted us to find the time capsule right away. I feel they wanted us to learn about the process.” All four students pause in thought, reflecting on their personal experiences during the investigative projects. Though these voyageurs were not physically able to time travel on cosmic strings, their efforts to glimpse into the past to better understand its complexity through archival and archaeological evidence were very successful indeed.
“I think it was a great experience,” offers Parker Fox. “We were provided a lot of unique opportunities this year and I think we will really benefit from that in the future.”
With stunning warrior women in battle armour riding horses at full speed shooting arrows in combat, Wonder Woman made Erin’s mind spin. She reached for her laptop to Google activities in the real world that emulated the fictional isle of the Amazonians. The search opened a door to the world of horse archery and the various BC communities that offered her the chance to pursue it.
“I have always had an interest in archery, so I signed up for a clinic in horse archery and loved it,” she reflects. “There is always so much room to improve in archery. You are continuously working on your mindset, form and breathing. And the results of your efforts are clear. If you have a bad day shooting it will show on the numbers board.” Yet few stables in Canada are willing to permit their riders to practice shooting projectiles off-horse. When she found a stable in Kelowna that was friendly to horse This new life junction provided Erin with an extremely unique opportunity. Her love of history could now be experienced in the flesh. “My history and English degree went hand-in-hand with being able to reenact historical maneuvers,” she says excitedly. With the increase in movies and TV programs that highlight ancient combat such as Vikings, Game of Thrones and The Great Wall, Erin noticed a surge of interest in the sport. “It’s great that mainstream media has helped people become interested in historical figures such as Genghis Khan and how his army actually executed their style of warfare,” admits Jardine. “Understanding the executional differences between horse archery and target archery is key to success in the sport.”
Even within the archery world, horse archery is unique and comes with its own challenges. “In historical combat, horse archers would have been in close proximity to their foes, ambush style. So when practicing horse archery, you’re basically practicing to shoot at moving soldiers at a lower level than your horse,” clarifies Erin. “You’re practicing for battle and there is a lot of pressure on you.”
“It is a huge skill to build—to have that warrior rage spirit yet perform. It is a delicate balance between warrior rage and the chill of a foot archer,” according to Jardine. “By performing this sport you even get to experience dressing in traditional archery gear, allowing you to better understand why soldiers wore what they did.”
Erin’s ability to attempt the ancient sport of falconry presented itself on set while filming a music video, and she jumped in with arms wide open. “I’ve always been drawn to raptors. My first tattoo was an eagle, and when I was on Vancouver Island, I always thought it was amazing to see the eagles everywhere and observe their behaviour,” reminisces Erin. “So I begged the handler to train me. I went to her facility as many weekends as I could to learn about how to keep a falcon.” Thus, her move to Kelowna looked like it would work perfectly to achieve her long-range plans to add this additional passion to her repertoire.
With a robust wine growing region, falconry is an increasingly popular natural pest abatement method. “I’m slowly building my knowledge in this area and working through some personal ethical issues on keeping a wild creature in captivity,” Erin admits. “I’m playing the long game as I would also need the money to establish a proper living situation for them. It’s not cheap and I’m trying to figure out the life balance!”
Erin’s ability to even participate in equestrian, archery and falconry is only possible due to her modern life in Canada. Traditionally male dominated sports, Erin has found it extremely rewarding to become part of a community that is headed by a woman in BC’s Okanagan. “I wouldn’t have been able to do these activities as a woman in historical times,” she clarifies. “Yet in 2019, it’s accessible and I can fulfill my passion while infiltrating the historical construct. It’s cool.”
This modern day Amazonian warrior can be seen smiling like a crazy woman as she surges through the practice trails aiming at targets from the back of her beloved La Cheval Canadien, Eden. With high flying dreams of falconry in her mind, Erin lives her life authentically and with no apologies.
“Everything feels better when you achieve aspirations on your own steam. I made some extreme choices to be able to do this, and it took sacrifice,” admits the QMS alumni. “But it felt so good to attain my goal. If your dream is something that might seem weird or unattainable, break it into smaller steps and everything will seem a little easier. Once you get closer to your target it won’t seem so big anymore.”