360-litre aquarium. Collections The Royal BC Museum's collection policy states that the museum's collection must pertain to the natural or human history of BC. The collection is divided into specific categories of "significant objects," "representative objects," and "comparative objects." The Museum Act authorizes the Royal BC Museum to enable the preservation and management of the collection by securing, receiving, providing access to, and maintaining artifacts that adroitly illustrate the natural or human history of British Columbia. Human history The human history department aims to represent the cultural, social, and economic history of the peoples of BC. Collecting anthropological artifacts has been a practice of the Royal BC Museum since its founding in 1886. Currently, a significant number of artifacts from the human history department are being repatriated to First Nations groups. The Human History department is responsible for representing the material cultural history of BC. Archaeology This division of the Human History department houses over 192 000 artifacts. The Royal BC Museum holds the largest collection of First Nations archaeological material from BC. Ethnology The ethnology collection at the Royal BC Museum contains over 14 000 indigenous artifacts. These artifacts include both ceremonial and utilitarian objects and were collected from various First Nations groups around BC. Modern history The Modern History department is aimed at portraying BC's history through material culture. There are 165 000 artifacts in the collection ranging from silverware to textiles to furniture to items related to canneries, mines, and breweries. Notably, the collection includes a lion's head from the 1970s Vancouver Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club that exemplifies the traditional Hoshan style, as well as the Man Yuk Tong collection that preserves the authentic herbs, prescriptions, and miscellaneous implements used in the original Chinese Herbalist Shop. Natural history The Natural History department has been a part of the Royal BC Museum since 1886. The department includes curators, collection managers, and a mammal and bird preparator. The Natural History collections are divided into eight disciplines: Entomology, Botany, Mammalogy, Ornithology, Ichthyology, Invertebrate Zoology, Palaeontology, and Herpetology. This department develops the records representing the province's biodiversity by collecting or accepting donations each year; processing them into the collections; and making the specimens and records available to the general public, as well as to scientific and educational communities. Palaeontology The fossil collection at the Royal BC Museum boasts approximately 55 000 specimens. The collection integrates specimens from all over BC ranging