Work to conserve U'mista masks and regalia almost complete

Work to conserve the fire-damaged collection at the U'mista Cultural Centre on northern Vancouver Island is almost complete, but the pieces are not being restored to their original condition.

Instead, the community has chosen to have the artifacts display the marks of a 2013 fire at the museum in Alert Bay, B.C.

"They are now telling another story in terms of their resilience and the resilience of the community in terms of surviving the fire," said Sarah Holland, director of the U'mista Cultural Centre. 

It's the latest chapter in a long history for the U'mista masks and regalia. 

The pieces were confiscated during the years of the potlatch ban in Canada. The Kwakwaka'wakw people fought to get them returned from collections around the world.

Dozens of items suffered smoke or water damage when someone set fire to the museum in 2013. Experts rushed to Alert Bay to help with the preservation effort.

The museum was able to reopen several months later after repairs, but work has continued to preserve the integrity of each piece in the collection.

Some of the most severely damaged items were sent to the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria.

Object conservators like George Field are working on the project.

"We are bringing things to the best point that we could hope for without making change. The damage is just part of the long history these pieces have had," he said.

All of the work on the U'mista collection is expected to be complete by the end of the year.

The Royal B.C. Museum has also created a pocket gallery that tells the story of the U'mista fire and the effort to save the collection.

The exhibit runs at the Victoria museum until the end of September.