Thanks to funding from Heritage BC, new markers will be installed in Rossland’s historic Columbia cemetery to recognize Chinese people who were buried there and later disinterred.
The Rossland Heritage Commission is receiving about $1,200 for its One Heritage Awareness project, which also includes creating a new plaque for the city’s 93-year-old swimming pool, replacing one that was stolen.
According to the commission’s 2016 book, Cemeteries of Rossland, 17 Chinese burials took place in the cemetery, beginning in 1900. Sixteen were disinterred in 1908, 1918, 1927, and 1938, with the remains sent to either China or Victoria.
The first Chinese burial was also among the most tragic: Mah Lin, 22, was shot and killed by an eight year old boy whose family had hired him as a cook. The boy became the youngest person to stand trial in Canada for a capital crime. He was acquitted.
The book notes that most of the Chinese burials took place in the northeastern-most part of the cemetery. However, there was no truth to the rumour that they were buried outside the cemetery fence.
The Rossland Light Opera Players Society will also receive over $9,100 for its Plumbing for the Players project, which will see emergency restoration of the plumbing in the society’s home, the 1897 Bodega building.
Heritage BC executive director Kirsten Clausen said the projects were among 30 chosen from among 93 applicants to their Heritage Legacy Fund. The total funding to be provided this year is close to $500,000.
Each year, five-member juries review funding applications under separate streams including heritage conservation, heritage awareness, Indigenous partnerships, and planning. Jurors are chosen for their expertise and geographic and cultural diversity. They make recommendations on funding, which are then reviewed by the Heritage BC board.
“We really do appreciate all the applications that come in,” Clausen said. “We’re very aware and sensitive that there’s an awful lot of disappointed people [who did not receive funding], but we are always really proud of the ones that we are able to support.”
Clausen said the projects contribute to tourism, economic viability, and community sustainability.
One other Kootenay project being funded this year is the restoration of the roof of one of the two remaining original buildings at the Sullivan mine in Kimberley. The Sullivan Mine and Railway Historical Society is receiving close to $60,000.
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