THE COMPLEXITY OF CULTURAL APPROPRIATION

vironmental charity located on Lekwungen territory.

Part of the work involved painting a mural at a nearby middle school that invited voices and views about nature that have been notably absent in the environmental movement. Askew recalls an important learning moment, reprinted here:

“One week, while I happened to be away, kQwa’st’not dropped by the Sierra Club offices on a Friday afternoon with an enormous batch of cookie dough. She gathered together the staff who were in the office that afternoon and asked everyone who was able to take some home over the weekend to bake and bring it back in order to have them ready to share with all the children at the middle school who had helped with the painting of the mural. kQwa’st’not explained that because she only had one small oven in her home, it would be difficult for her to bake the many hundreds of cookies by herself. At the time, kQwa’st’not was new to the organization and few of the staff had had an opportunity to develop a relationship with her. The staff were quite surprised by her request. While a few agreed, most said that for different reasons they were unable to help. kQwa’st’not left most of the cookie dough in the fridge with an invitation for anyone who was able to help. She said that she would be back on Monday to pick up the baked cookies. On Monday, she returned and picked up the baked cookies from those who had been able to help, as well as the unbaked dough still sitting in the fridge. She then baked the remainder of the cookies herself, to share with the children at the school in celebration at the unveiling of the mural.

When I returned to the office the following week, a number of perturbed staff came to speak to me about the baking request, pointing out to me that baking cookies was not a part of their job description and explaining that they felt somewhat guilty not to have helped. They were also surprised and uncomfortable to have been asked, since it was out of the ordinary. Since I had not spoken with kQwa’st’not about the cookies, I was not sure what had happened but promised to speak with her and find out more. When we talked, kQwa’st’not explained