Credits

Much of the information in this article is summarized from the following publications:

In 1861, St. Mary’s Mission was established as a residential school for First Nations children. The very first First Nations brass band was formed at the mission by Harry Edwards, in 1864. Shortly after its founding, the band was directed by Reverend Brother Patrick Joseph Collins of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI).

As the St. Mary’s Brass Band was the first musical group of its kind in the area, it performed at many functions. These included:

• May 24 celebrations at New Westminster in 1867
• Visit by the Superintendent of Indian Affairs Israel Wood Powell, also a Queen's Birthday fete, 1873
• Great land sale of Mission City in 1891 (see note on Mission at the end of this page)
• Opening ceremonies of the Bellingham-British Columbia Railway, 1891

At the May 24, 1867 celebration in New Westminster, the following appeared in the Daily British Columbian newspaper:

"His Excellency [Governor Seymour] was received with loud cheering from the thousands of assembled natives, a general salute from the Volunteer Companies, and as he took his place upon the platform the St. Mary's Amateur Brass Band composed of native boys belonging to the school, played and afterwards sang the National Anthem. And we must remark that both the instrumental and vocal efforts were creditable alike to the teachers and pupils of St. Mary's schoool."¹

At the Great Land Sale in 1891, a reporter writing for the Vancouver Daily World newspaper gave the following assessment of the band:

"This band is made up of young people from [St. Mary's Mission] school, and range in age from 6 to 12 years. The instruments played by several of the young boys are of greater length than they are in height. So small are they that it takes a couple of lads to carry the small drum. To say that the music played by this band is excellent gives the reader but faint idea of what their performance is like. It is to be hoped that an opportunity will be given at an early date for Vancouverites to listen to what is unquestionably the best Indian band in the Province, or for that matter in the Dominion."²

The original band ceased to function in about 1940, but reappeared in 1961 as a boys' band. The St. Mary's Drum and Bugle Band, organized in 1963, is a direct descendant of these earlier groups.

City of Vancouver Archives, In P37.5

St. Mary’s Mission Brass Band c. 1898. Brother Patrick Joseph Collins, playing cornet on the left facing the band, was music director.

Mission, British Columbia

The Town of Mission City had an interesting beginning as a land promotion, with the town's core commercial properties and residential streets auctioned off at the "Great Land Sale" of 1891, with buyers brought in via the CPR mainline from Vancouver as well as from Eastern Canada. Some of the early houses and commercial buildings were, in fact, specifically designed to be reminiscent of small towns in southern Ontario in order to encourage buyers. Hailed at the time as a new metropolis, the fledgling town was located at the intersection of the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline with a northward extension of the Burlington Northern Railroad. The name Mission City was chosen due to the site's proximity to the historic St. Mary's Mission of the Oblate just east of town, which was founded in 1868. (Wikipedia)

This photograph was taken on May 19, 1891 during the Mission City land auction of lots owned by J. W. Home, a Vancouver real estate promoter and politician. Brother Patrick Joseph Collins, playing cornet on the left of the circle, was the leader upon this occasion.³ One of the other brass bands in attendance can be seen in the background of the photograph listening to their First Nations counterparts.

Vancouver Public Library, accession number 71427

This is probably the St. Mary's Mission's Brass Band, ca. 190-.

1. Daily British Columbian (New Westminster), May 29, 1867, p. 3.
2. Vancouver Daily World, 20 May 1891, p. 5.
3. News-Advertiser, Daily Colonist, Daily British Columbian, and World of May 16-25, 1891 period.

Author: Brian Stride (2012)