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Interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription19349
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recording (wav) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (49 min., 21 sec.)
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of an oral history interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Assistant Curator, Kate Petrusa. Raj Chouhan shares his ancestral background and personal experiences immigrating to Canada from India in 1973 and living and working in Canada as an immigrant…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Series
- Museum Oral Histories series
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recording (wav) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (49 min., 21 sec.)
- Material Details
- Interviewer: Kate Petrusa Interviewee: Honourable Raj Chouhan Location of Interview: Residence of Honourable Raj Chouhan Interview Date: December 2, 2022 Total Number of tracks: 1 Total Length of all Tracks: (00:49:21) Digital master recording (wav) was converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of an oral history interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Assistant Curator, Kate Petrusa. Raj Chouhan shares his ancestral background and personal experiences immigrating to Canada from India in 1973 and living and working in Canada as an immigrant and the organizations that he became involved with. Honourable Raj Chouhan recalls how he arrived in Burnaby with his family in 1973 and that his family worked in farming. Chouhan imparts his first hand experiences as a new immigrant working as a labourer in the farming industry and describes the unsafe and unfair working conditions that he and migrant workers faced. Chouhan conveys how this experience lead him to become an activist for better working conditions for migrant workers. This lead Chouhan and others to form the Canadian Farm Workers Union in 1980. Chouhan recollects his experiences flying from India to Canada with his wife, his first impressions after arriving in Vancouver and driving to Burnaby and what he brought with him. Chouhan explains his connections to Burnaby. Members of Chouhan's wife's family immgrated to Canada in 1957 and his wife and her three brothers joined them in 1970. Chouhan's father in law, Hardial Singh Grewal immigrated in 1957 and became president of the Sikh temple in New Westminster. Hardial Singh Grewal worked in a lumber mill in Vancouver and eventually bought a house in Burnaby. Chouhan married to his wife at the Sikh temple in New Westminster and lived in Burnaby for a period before moving to New Westminster where they could find more affordable housing. Chouhan shares that he first worked as a farm labourer in Abbotsford and then found a job in the sawmill which paid more. Chouhan describes the extreme racism and discrimination that he and other immigrants faced which lead to the formation of the British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism under the leadership of Dr. Hari Prakash Sharma. Chouhan describes this organization that he was a part of and the Canadian Farm Workers Union that were both formed in Burnaby. Chouhan shares that he moved to Victoria in 1988 to serve on the Hospital Employee's Union and moved back to the mainland in 1993 and returned to Burnaby in 2001. Chouhan reflects on the history of South Asian immigration in Canada, how many of the migrants settled in the lower mainland including Burnaby, New Westminster and Vancouver establishing temples in Vancouver and New Westminster which became the centre for the South Asian community. He conveys how earlier occupations were limited to farming and millwork and how over time employment opportunities and education have broadened but there is still work to do. He imparts how second generation Canadians’ experiences differ from first generations providing examples of his own daughters’ and the occupations that they are working in. Chouhan provides his insights into the South Asian Canadian experience imparting “We make history every day and that history needs to be recorded and learned from.."... “People from different communities, different backgrounds who lived in Burnaby have contributed so much and South Asians are just like another community and participated in all aspects of social life, cultural, religious, economy. I'm so proud of our community, our forefathers who had that vision to fight for our rights. I'm inspired by people who struggled so much to gain basic rights, like the right to vote". Chouhan refers to these first immigrants as “Gadri Babbas” “revolutionary old people” who were also the main motivation that lead to India becoming a free country in 1947 and for fighting for basic rights here in Canada and how they made their contributions for future generations. Chouhan expresses what he imparts to students “Do not forget your past... if you remember your past then you are much more knowledgeable. Then we know what we need for the future. If we don't know the past, we don't know what the future is going to be like. To make a better future, you have to learn from the past and improve".
- History
- Interviewee biography: Honourable Raj Chouhan was born in the city of Ludhiana in the Province of Punjab in India and immigrated to Canada in 1973. After arriving in Canada, Raj's family settled in Burnaby. Raj grew up in Burnaby and attended schoool. Honourable Raj Chouhan was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as the MLA for Burnaby-Edmonds in 2005 and was re-elected in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2020. He was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on December 7, 2020. Honourable Chouhan is the founding president of the Canadian Farmworkers Union and the British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism and has served as a director of the Hospital Employees' Union, the Labour Relations Board of B.C. and the Arbitration Bureau of B.C. Honourable Chouhan has also served as the Vice President of B.C. Human Rights Defenders since 2003 and has taught courses in Human Rights, the B.C. Labour Code and Collective Bargaining since 1987. Interviewer biography: Kate Petrusa is the Assistant Curator at the Burnaby Village Museum. In her role, she manages all aspects of the collection – including caring for physical artifacts and making their digital counterpart accessible. Before coming to Burnaby Village Museum in 2019, Kate has worked at several Museums around the Lower Mainland as a Curator and contractor since 2013.
- Creator
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Subjects
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Social Issues
- Social Issues - Racism
- Occupations - Agricultural Labourers
- Migration
- Organizations - Unions
- Rights
- Rights - Human Rights
- Agriculture
- Agriculture - Farms
- Government - Provincial Government
- Government
- Names
- Chouhan, Raj
- British Columbia Organization to Fight Racism
- Sharma, Dr. Hari Prakash
- Grewal, Hardial Singh
- Canadian Farmworkers Union
- Hospital Employees Union
- Khalsa Diwan Society
- Responsibility
- Petrusa, Kate
- Accession Code
- BV022.29.4
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Notes
- Title based on contents of item
- Transcription available on Heritage Burnaby
Documents
Audio Tracks
Interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan, [1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022
Interview with Honourable Raj Chouhan, [1957-2022] (interview content), interviewed 2 Dec. 2022
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2022_0029_0004_002.mp3Bylaw Number: 3766 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw No 2, 1956
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw20602
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3766
- Final Adoption
- 1956 Oct 22
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3766
- Final Adoption
- 1956 Oct 22
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3743 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw 1956
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw20625
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3743
- Final Adoption
- 1956 Aug 10
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3743
- Final Adoption
- 1956 Aug 10
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Interview with Shanaz Khan
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription20284
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1956-2023] (interview content), interviewed 24 Sep. 2023
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recording (wav) (65 min., 54 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (63 min., 54 sec.)
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Shanaz Khan conducted by Burnaby Village Museum registrar Rajdeep on September 24, 2023. 00:00:00- 00:09:59 Shanaz Khan shares information about herself, her family and life in Fiji before she immigrated to Vancouver in 1972 and her fi…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Series
- Museum Oral Histories series
- Subseries
- Many Voices Project Interviews subseries
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 sound recording (wav) (65 min., 54 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (63 min., 54 sec.)
- Material Details
- Interviewer: Rajdeep Interviewee: Shanaz Khan Location of Interview: Love farmhouse at Burnaby Village Museum Interview Date: September 24, 2023 Total Number of tracks: 1 Total Length of all Tracks: 01:05:54 Digital master recording (wav) was converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Shanaz Khan conducted by Burnaby Village Museum registrar Rajdeep on September 24, 2023. 00:00:00- 00:09:59 Shanaz Khan shares information about herself, her family and life in Fiji before she immigrated to Vancouver in 1972 and her first experiences after immigrating to Vancouver including where her family lived, her work as an accountant for major banks in Vancouver, training and working as a chef and living in Surrey and Vancouver. 00:10:00 - 00:14:59 Shanaz shares experiences in her career as an accountant working in Vancouver and Tumbler Ridge and her experiences of racism that she faced in her workplace. Shanaz talks about her life after retirement and her volunteer work. 00:015:00 - 00:22:53 Shanaz talks about her life in Burnaby for the last 19 years and what she likes about living here. Shanaz recollects locations of stores in Vancouver where her family shopped to find traditional foods and where her family lived after immigrating. Shanaz shares some of her favourite traditional foods. 00:22:54 - 00:37:41 Shanaz recollects some of her childhood experiences growing up in Fiji and her experiences of swimming in Fiji, Hawaii and in Vancouver. Shanaz talks about her fitness regime and places that she likes to exercise in Burnaby including trails and green spaces and reflects on the changes to Burnaby with increased development, the cost of housing and the crime rate. 00:37:42 - 00:52:41 Shanaz talks about the traditional clothing and western clothing that she’s worn and accessed while living in Burnaby and Vancouver. Shanaz describes some traditional Islamic religious practices including the nikah (marriage), funerals, prayers, Eid, Hajj and her own personal practices as well as locations of mosques and cemeteries available to Muslims in the lower mainland. 00:52:42 - 01:05:54 Shanaz talks about her parent’s religious and ancestral background, her religious upbringing and the demographics of Fiji.
- History
- Interviewee biography: Shanaz Khan was born and raised in Suva, Fiji in the 1950's. In the early 1970's, Shanaz immigrated to Vancouver with her parents and younger brother. Shanaz attended John Oliver High School and took one year of accounting courses at Langara College. Over the years Shanaz worked as an accountant in major banks and for a mining company in Tumbler Ridge. Shanaz also worked as a chef at various restaurants and bakeries after completing training at a Vancouver Culinary School. Shanaz has made her home in Burnaby for the past 19 years. Following her retirement, Shanaz has volunteered for different organizations including the YWCA. Interviewer biography: Rajdeep was born and raised in the Lower Mainland and is of Punjabi (South Asian) descent. She has an Associate of Arts degree in Asian Studies from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Anthropology from the University of British Columbia. She is a student in the Restoration of Natural Systems program at the University of Victoria. Rajdeep works at Simon Fraser University as a Program Assistant and as a researcher with the City of Burnaby. At Burnaby Village Museum, Rajdeep contributed to the exhibit “Truths Not Often Told: Being South Asian in Burnaby”.
- Creator
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Subjects
- Buildings - Religious - Mosques
- Cemeteries
- Ceremonies - Funerals
- Ceremonies - Weddings
- Education
- Housing
- Migration
- Occupations
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Religions - Islam
- Religions - Christianity
- Social Issues
- Social Issues - Racism
- Sports - Swimming
- Names
- Khan, Shanaz
- Responsibility
- Rajdeep
- Accession Code
- BV023.16.18
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1956-2023] (interview content), interviewed 24 Sep. 2023
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Notes
- Title based on contents of item
- Transcription available
Documents
Audio Tracks
Interview with Shanaz Khan, [1956-2023] (interview content), interviewed 24 Sep. 2023
Interview with Shanaz Khan, [1956-2023] (interview content), interviewed 24 Sep. 2023
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2023_0016_0018_002.mp3Bylaw Number: 3649 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw No 1, 1955
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw20719
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3649
- Final Adoption
- 1955 Oct 24
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3649
- Final Adoption
- 1955 Oct 24
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Advertising Space in the Special British Columbia Edition of the Canada Review
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/councilreport45305
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Report ID
- 45462
- Meeting Date
- 15-Nov-1954
- Format
- Council - Committee Report
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Report ID
- 45462
- Meeting Date
- 15-Nov-1954
- Format
- Council - Committee Report
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Yearly Censuses in British Columbia
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/councilreport45382
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Report ID
- 45416
- Meeting Date
- 18-Oct-1954
- Format
- Council - Mayor/Councillor/Staff Report
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Report ID
- 45416
- Meeting Date
- 18-Oct-1954
- Format
- Council - Mayor/Councillor/Staff Report
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3391 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw No 3, 1953
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw20977
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3391
- Final Adoption
- 1953 Sep 08
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3391
- Final Adoption
- 1953 Sep 08
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3318 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw No 2, 1953
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21049
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3318
- Final Adoption
- 1953 Apr 20
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3318
- Final Adoption
- 1953 Apr 20
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3294 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw 1951, Amendment Bylaw 1953
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21073
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3294
- Final Adoption
- 1953 Mar 16
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3294
- Final Adoption
- 1953 Mar 16
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3293 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw No 1, 1953
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21074
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3293
- Final Adoption
- 1953 Mar 16
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3293
- Final Adoption
- 1953 Mar 16
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3220 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw No 2, 1952
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21147
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3220
- Final Adoption
- 1952 Dec 29
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3220
- Final Adoption
- 1952 Dec 29
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3242 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw No 3, 1952
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21125
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3242
- Final Adoption
- 1952 Sep 29
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3242
- Final Adoption
- 1952 Sep 29
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3211 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw 1952
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21156
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3211
- Final Adoption
- 1952 Jul 14
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3211
- Final Adoption
- 1952 Jul 14
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3208 - British Columbia Electric Railway Company Limited, Easement Authorization Bylaw 1952
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21159
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3208
- Final Adoption
- 1952 Jun 10
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3208
- Final Adoption
- 1952 Jun 10
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3187 - Corporate Land Sale Bylaw No 1, 1952
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21180
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3187
- Final Adoption
- 1952 Apr 07
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3187
- Final Adoption
- 1952 Apr 07
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3169 - Land Sale Bylaw No 15, 1951
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21198
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3169
- Final Adoption
- 1951 Dec 27
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3169
- Final Adoption
- 1951 Dec 27
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3165 - Standard Oil Company of British Columbia Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw 1951
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21202
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3165
- Final Adoption
- 1951 Dec 17
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3165
- Final Adoption
- 1951 Dec 17
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Bylaw Number: 3127 - British Columbia Electric Company Limited Easement Authorization Bylaw 1951
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/bylaw21240
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3127
- Final Adoption
- 1951 Jun 05
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
- Repository
- Legislative Services
- Bylaw Number
- 3127
- Final Adoption
- 1951 Jun 05
- Format
- Bylaws - Adopted
- Collection/Fonds
- City Council and Office of the City Clerk fonds
Documents
Interview with David Skulski
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription19606
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1948-2023] (interview content), interviewed 6 Jul. 2023
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 2 sound recordings (wav) (80 min., 38 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (80 min., 38 sec.)
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Murray "David" Skulski conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Registrar and Researcher, Eric Damer. 00:00:00 – 00:22:22 David Skulski provides biographical information about himself. He talks about his childhood experiences growing up, at…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum fonds
- Series
- Museum Oral Histories series
- Subseries
- Many Voices Project Interviews subseries
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 2 sound recordings (wav) (80 min., 38 sec.) + 1 sound recording (mp3) (80 min., 38 sec.)
- Material Details
- Interviewer: Eric Damer Interviewee: David Skulski Location of Interview: Burnaby Village Museum Interview Date: July 6 2023 Total Number of tracks: 2 Total Length of all Tracks: 80 min., 38 sec. Digital master recordings (wav) were recorded onto two separate audio tracks, edited and merged together and converted to mp3 for access on Heritage Burnaby
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a recording of an oral history interview with Murray "David" Skulski conducted by Burnaby Village Museum Registrar and Researcher, Eric Damer. 00:00:00 – 00:22:22 David Skulski provides biographical information about himself. He talks about his childhood experiences growing up, attending school in New Westminster and Burnaby and Hebrew school in Vancouver. David recalls his early experiences in music, instruments that he played and describes some of his Jewish family traditions. 00:22:23 – 00:49:57 David talks about his experiences studying music at university and following his passion as a musician and oboist. He recalls his experiences of working with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the CBC Orchestra, Vancouver Society for Early Music, the Burnaby Symphony Orchestra, other musical ensembles and venues where he’s performed. 00:49:58 – 01:00:00 David talks about living in Burnaby in the Deer Lake neighbourhood. David describes some his experiences playing traditional music from different countries. 01:01:01 – 01:14:15 David comments on the changes that he’s seen in Burnaby over the years, some of his favourite places, activities, cultural amenities and development on the Fraser River. David talks about the Jewish community in Burnaby, his involvement with the Peretz Centre and examples of Jewish cuisine. 01:14:16 – 01:20:38 David talks about Yiddish being his first language, his language studies in Lithuania, the roots of the language and provides some examples of speaking Yiddish.
- History
- Interviewee biography: Murray "David" Skulski was born in 1942 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and moved to British Columbia with his parents in 1948. Skulski and his family settled in New Westminster before moving to Burnaby in the late 1950's. Skulski took piano lessons at an early age and began playing obo while attending junior high school in New Westminster. In 1960 at the age of 17 years, Skulski began performing with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as solo English horn and is the youngest player to ever be employed with the VSO. In 1991, Skulski started playing with the Vancouver Folk Orchestra and was the conductor between 1997 and 2004. Skulski has been the principal oboe player in many orchestras. In 1968, Skulski founded the Hortulani Musicae; in 1970, he founded the Vancouver Society for Early Music and in 1983 he founded Harmonie, an ensemble concentrating in classical wind music. In 2003, Skulski became president of the Pertez Centre for Secular Jewish Culture. In 2005, Skulski became principal oboist of the Philharmonic Orchestra and the Burnaby Symphony Orchestra and between 2009 and 2019 he was the principal oboist for the Pilgrim Orchestra under Pilwon Suk. David has served as president of the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture and since 2022, he’s served on the board of the Vancouver Chamber Music Society. Skulski has taught summer courses in Renaissance music in Austria (1972-1979), has been a music resident at Simon Fraser University (1973-1976), has lectured on the history of musical instruments at SFU and UBC and in 2008 began teaching at the Pacific Coast School of Music, Richmond School of Music and Oakridge Music Studios. Interviewer biography: Eric Damer is a Burnaby Village Museum Interpreter, Museum Registrar, Researcher and Blacksmith. Eric pounded hot steel for the first time in 1977 in junior high. Fifteen years later, he joined Burnaby Village Museum where he has smithed for three decades. He also provides historical research for museum exhibits and special projects. Outside the museum, Eric is a social historian with a special interest in educational history.
- Creator
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Subjects
- Education
- Foods
- Music
- Musical Instruments
- Occupations - Musicians
- Performances - Concerts
- Persons - Jewish Canadians
- Religions - Judaism
- Names
- Burnaby Symphony Orchestra
- Burnaby South High School
- Burquest
- Skulski, Murray "David"
- Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
- Vancouver Society for Early Music
- Peretz Centre
- Responsibility
- Damer, Eric
- Geographic Access
- Deer Lake
- Deer Lake Park
- Accession Code
- BV023.16.10
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [1948-2023] (interview content), interviewed 6 Jul. 2023
- Media Type
- Sound Recording
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Douglas-Gilpin Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of item
- Transcription available
Documents
Audio Tracks
Interview with David Skulski, [1948-2023] (interview content), interviewed 6 Jul. 2023
Interview with David Skulski, [1948-2023] (interview content), interviewed 6 Jul. 2023
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/media/Hpo/_Data/_BVM_Sound_Recordings/Oral_Histories/2023_0016_0010_003.mp3