Renowned local author Alix Hawley has recently produced a new podcast about the history of the Okanagan in the 1800s called Two Lives. Each episode looks at two lives, one Syilx or Métis person and one settler, whose paths crossed in some way. Alix credits UBCO Library’s resources and supports with helping her to create and produce her podcast.
UBCO Library support researching and producing the podcast
Alix researched for her podcast using the digitized archives made available through British Columbia Regional Digitized History (BCRDH) portal, an integrated, cross-searchable repository of digitized archives spearheaded by UBC Okanagan Library’s Special Collections & Archives.
“I was glad to be able to access so many historical newspapers through BCRDH,” Alix states. “For example, the police reports in Episode 3, about Lucy Simla and Florence Richter, came directly from the Okanagan Mining Review of 1893.”
Alix Hawley grew up in the Okanagan and is currently a Master’s of Library and Information Science student. Being a self-described giant history nerd, she knew she wanted to work on archives as part of her thesis project. When asked about her inspiration for the project, Alix credits UBC Okanagan Library with pointing her to the Okanagan Historical Society, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and was seeking a partner to help promote its decades of reports.
“The Okanagan Historical Society are keepers of voluminous amounts of detailed information, often from average people, not just historians,” says Alix. “Their annual reports include pieces you wouldn’t find anywhere else, about places and people and events, often very vividly told. The digitized reports were crucial, and being able to access them so easily through the BCRDH portal was a gift.”
For anyone looking to utilize Okanagan Special Collections & Archives to complete archival research, Alix recommends starting with the browse function on the BCRDH portal, which leads you through all the resources.
Many different Librarians and staff members assisted Alix in creating her podcast. It was very much a team effort! “It’s great to have knowledgeable staff and librarians; they were each so responsive and thoughtful,” she states.
Archivist Paige Hohmann and UBCO Library Administrator Lois Marshall provided some initial guidance and contacts for next steps. Later, during the research phase, Programmer Analyst Sharon Hanna provided keyword searches and Library Services Assistant Lisa Clarke shared finding aids. Indigenous Initiatives Librarian Christian Isbister assisted with finding additional Syilx Okanagan resources. When it came time to produce the podcast, Open Education Librarian Donna Langille provided a podcasting workshop with many practical tips to get started.
Learn more about the Podcast
Two Lives is a limited audio series produced in partnership with the Okanagan Historical Society. Two Lives is available at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart Radio. You can hear Alix talk about the podcast on this CBC radio segment or learn more about Alix on her website.
Two Lives shares the history of the Okanagan in the 1800s by focusing on two individual people for each episode, one Syilx or Métis person and one settler, whose paths crossed at that time.
When asked why she decided to tell these stories in pairs, Alix says it was essential to tell the stories of Syilx Okanagan and Métis people on an even footing with those of settlers, and in a non-appropriative way. “As a settler descendant, I was personally aware of this need and as a fiction writer, I thought that narratives about pairs of people could be engaging.”
You might recognize some local voices throughout the podcast. Alix says that she hassled many community members into voicing the first-person quotations of the historical people in the episodes.
The Two Lives podcast project exemplifies why it’s so important that regional history is made accessible. Alex Liu Archivist in Okanagan Special Collections & Archives states that, “Digitizing and hosting digital materials online is very labour and cost intensive. BCRDH helps break down barriers for both institutions and researchers by partnering with regional heritage institutions and providing assistance and guidance for digitizing materials as well as hosting those materials on the BCRDH online platform.”