Volume 15 . Issue 3
March 2019
JOSEPH A. DANDURAND
KWANTLEN STORYTELLER-IN-RESIDENCE BRINGS CULTURE, HUMOUR TO VPL
PAGES 12 - 17
RESTORING COAST SALISH PLACE NAMES
PAGES 19 - 20
NAUT’SA MAWT TRIBAL COUNCIL NATIONS
Naut’sa mawt - Working together as one EDITORIAL TEAM Cara McKenna – Editor editor@salishseasentinel.ca Todd Peacey – Photographer Celestine Aleck (Sahiltiniye) - Columnist Edith Moore - Columnist DESIGN & LAYOUT Kelly Landry & Marissa Nahanee ADVERTISING & DISTRIBUTION Todd Peacey ads@salishseasentinel.ca PUBLISHER Gary Reith, CAO Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council 330-6165 Highway 17A Delta, B.C., V4K 5B8 604-943-6712 or 1-888-382-7711 PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT #42922026 Undeliverable mail may be returned to: 330-6165 Highway 17A Delta, B.C., V4K 5B8 circulation@salishseasentinel.ca
The Salish Sea Sentinel is published monthly, ten times a year, by the Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council, representing 6,500 people in 11 member nations.
© Salish Sea Sentinel is all rights reserved. Contents and photographs may not be reprinted without written permission. The statements, opinions and points of view expressed in articles published in this magazine are those of the authors. The publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, transparencies or other materials.
COVER: Joseph A. Dandurand of Kwantlen First Nation has been named Vancouver Public Library's Indigenous storyteller-in-residence for 2019. Photo: VPL.
The Salish Sea map was created in 2009 by Stefan Freelan at Western Washington University
1. HALALT (250) 246-4736 chief@halalt.org www.halalt.org
7. SNAW-NAW-AS (Nanoose) (250) 390-3661 chris.bob@nanoose.org www.nanoose.org
2. HOMALCO (250) 923-4979
8. STZ’UMINUS (Ladysmith) (250) 245-7155 Ray.Gauthier@coastsalishdevcorp.com www.stzuminus.com
3. KLAHOOSE Qathen Xwegus Management Corp (250) 935-6536 www.klahoose.com 4. K'ÒMOKS (250) 339-4545 http://www.komoks.ca 5. MALAHAT (250) 743-3231 info@malahatnation.ca www.malahatnation.com 6. TLA’AMIN (604) 483-9646 clint.williams@tn-bc.ca www.tlaaminnation.com
9. TSAWWASSEN (604) 943-2122 info@tsawwassenfirstnation.com www.tsawwassenfirstnation.com 10. TSLEIL-WAUTUTH (604) 929-3454 cao@twnation.ca www.twnation.ca 11. T’SOU-KE (Sooke) (250) 642-3957 administrator@tsoukenation.com www.tsoukenation.com
Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council 8017 Chemainus Road Chemainus, B.C., V0R 1K5 (250) 324-1800 • www.nautsamawt.org
SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 1
Left to right: Janet Moore (Hwum'mi'ya), Vera Pe
NMTC ELDERS COUNCIL REINSTATED
Nomination process waived, elders from 2018 will continue A council of Elders who guide Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council have been welcomed back for another year with a ceremony. Members of the Elders Council were blanketed and honoured with a song during the tribal council’s Annual General Meeting in Richmond, B.C., in late January. NmTC Communications Liaison Edith Moore explained that there is usually a nominations process, but that was waived for the 2019 term. “Our Elders Council is there for us at every meeting,” she said. “We decided that we’re not doing nominations, we’re just going to continue to hon2 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
our them.” The Elders Council represents Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council’s 11 member nations and guides the work of NmTC with their wisdom in culture, protocol and more. Five members of the eight-member council attended the Annual General Meeting earlier this year and took part in the ceremony. Moore added that there are more spots for nations that don't have elders representing them. “We would strongly encourage the nations that don’t have an elder participant to bring somebody forward,” she said. “We raise our hands to (the elders), so
much gratitude. And we thank you for everything that you have given to us.” The elders who were reinstated for 2019 are: Janet Moore, Hwum’mi’ya, from Halalt, Vera Peacey from Homalco, Jessie Louie from Klahoose, Germaine Sutherland, Hi ah watt, from T’souke, Elsie Paul, Qaxustala’s, from Tla’amin, Tony Jacobs, Thaymut, from Tsawwassen, George Harris Sr.A, Wholwolet’za, from Stz’uminus, Deanna D. George from Tsleil-Waututh.
K’ÓMOKS JOINS NMTC Nation's Leadership welcomed tribal council to its territory earlier this year
eacey, Deanna D. George, Germaine Sutherland (Hi ah watt), Elsie Paul (Qaxustala’s).
WITH CEREMONY
to serve in 2019
By Edith Moore, NmTC communications liaison It is with great pleasure that Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council publicly announces the newest member of our family, K’ómoks First Nation. K’ómoks welcomed our Elders and Directors to their territory on January 17, 2019, as they graciously hosted our board meeting. A few months earlier, Chief Nicole Rempel wrote to express interest in joining Naut’sa mawt. Rempel said she believes joining Naut’sa mawt is a good fit for the community, in part because K’ómoks is focusing on regaining cultural practices. She said one way to do this will be making further connections with sister nations Klahoose, Homalco and Tla’amin, which have all been longtime members of the tribal council. “We know our members (will) benefit from the new relationship,” Rempel said. NmTC’s Director of Advisory Services Valerie Cross-Blackett (Chemkwaat) has worked with K’ómoks previously as a Tsawwassen Nation legislator. She said she is looking forward to working with K’ómoks and learning from each other. “I am happy that they have decided to join our family and am excited to see what we can share,” she said. Naut’sa mawt means “working together as one” and K’ómoks shares the same beliefs and teachings. It will make us stronger as we welcome their expertise and experience to our organization. Welcome K’ómoks, to the Naut’sa mawt Family. SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 3
ELDER PROFILE: STZ’UMINUS’S GEORGE HARRIS (WHOLWOLET’ZA)
Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council is run with guidance from an Elders Council with representatives from its 11 member nations. The Salish Sea Sentinel is profiling a new elder from the council each month. By Edith Moore, NmTC communications liaison What a pleasure it was to sit with George Harris (Wholwolet’za) of Stz’uminus First Nation and learn about his life. Even though the roads were covered in snow, George had no hesitation braving the weather in order to give me a piece of his day, so that I was able to interview him. To me this demonstrated how he is always willing to give of himself. George’s Indian name Wholwolet’za came from his great-grandfather of Lyackson First Nation. His late parents are Lawrence and Irene Harris (nee Joe) of Stz’uminus. Before he was born, his great-grandfather told his mom that if the baby was a boy, he would have the sacred inheritance of the mask. His great-grandfather said that with the mask comes great responsibility to uphold our traditional law, the Snuw’uyulh. George says he is proud to be Stz’uminus, and Coast Salish, and he is thankful for the teachings of his grandmother. “Make up your mind to be strong – Q’wam-kwum tsun shqˌwuluwun,” she would say, as well as telling George to follow a traditional way of life. George is passionate about protecting the water, and proudly wears a medallion around his neck that features Eddy Joe’s rendition of the petroglyph in Kulleet Bay, depicting the Protector of Kulleet Bay Harbour. George said he believes in working with various organizations as it enriches the lives of his people -- along with serving on the Elders Council for Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council, he has an impressive list of professional accomplishments. He has held numerous roles on various councils and committees, including working for Correctional Services Canada on a National Elders Working Group Committee. He previously served as the CAO of the Hul’q’umi’num Treaty Group, as a Stz’uminus councillor, and was one of the founding members of Tsow-Tun Le Lum Treatment Centre. It is truly is our honour to have George Harris serve on our Elders Council representing Stz’uminus.
workiNg witH First NatioNs commuNities Hazelwood is coNtiNually lookiNg For opportuNities to work For, or witH, First NatioNs iN caNada. tHis approacH Has allowed us to work For a variety oF NatioNs iN bc, aNd Has Helped us create a variety oF workiNg agreemeNts witH NatioNs tHat sHare our eNtrepreNeurial spirit.
Hazelwood.ca/First-NatioNs
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KLAHOOSE EXPANDS GLOBAL REPATRIATION EFFORTS WITH DATABASE, APP Nation wants to share its work with other nations to repatriate ancestors, belongings from museums around the world This winter, Klahoose Elder Kenny Hanuse led a procession of band members from the nation’s main office to the community’s cemetary in Squirrel Cove for the burial of two ancestors returning home. Klahoose youth Brandon Harry and Chief Kevin Peacey carried small cedar boxes containing the remains of the ancestors, recently repatriated from the Royal B.C. Museum. As the group made their way to the burial plots, elders greeted the ancestors, calling to them in their language and letting them know they can finally go to rest. “Our ancestors have come home, this is truly a happy day for them, and for those of us here to greet them,” said Peacey. The ceremony was the result of a wider project that Klahoose has been focusing on for the past year called “The Journey Home: ʔi:mot tət kʷənome (it’s good to see you).” After receiving a grant from the Museum Assistance Program of the Canadian Department of Heritage, the nation has been reaching out to hundreds of institutions around the world to return ancestors and items of cultural significance back to Klahoose. During Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council’s Annual General Meeting in January, Peacey and Klahoose Director of Cultural Affairs and Heritage Jodi Simkin shared the nation’s work with leaders from other Coast Salish communities. Simkin explained that the project began by using non-invasive ground-penetrating radar in the nation’s existing cemeteries and giving the newly discovered ancestors GPS coordinates. “In the case of Squirrel Cove, we started with 204 known graves, and we found 98 additional inferred graves,” she said. “In the case of Toba Inlet, we started with three and located 48.” Simkin said even with finding those graves, it became clear that there weren’t enough to account
for how many people have lived at Klahoose over the years -- the nation estimates that there should be approximately 650 sets of remains, but has only accounted for 342. So Klahoose started seeking out remains from museum collections as part of The Journey Home. Through the project, the nation has compiled a growing worldwide database of about 410 institutions. Simkin said the list will be available to all nations once work is complete. “This is a project for all of Canada, that all of the nations here can actually do fairly easily now that this part of the work has been done,” Simkin said. “Our hope is that, as you take the list, and if you add institutions to it, that you will send it back to us so we can keep the list going and growing.” To build on its repatriation work, Klahoose is also working on developing a mobile progressive app called “the Mountain and the Mouse.” The nation has partnered with the Museum of Anthropology, the Royal B.C. Museum, the Museum of Vancouver and a group of other First Nations on the technology. The app will allow museum-goers around the world to capture information on art and artifacts they encounter, then relay that information back to participating nations. “They open the app, it will work on- or offline, and they simply fill in the fields,” Simkin explained. “As soon as they hit ‘send’ it will notify the (originating) nation.” Simkin said the web app, when its ready, will be a way for the public to support repatriation efforts. Klahoose will work with B.C. nations first before looking at expanding the project across Canada. Simkin said the nation is waiting on final funding before the app is released to the public, but updates, when available, can be found at www. klahoose.org.
NANAIMO ART GALLERY FEATURES INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES athut / Words Bounce exhibit includes concurrent Hul’q’uminum lessons The Nanaimo Art Gallery is hosting Hul’q’umi’num lessons as it explores Indigenous languages and their impact in its latest exhibit. athut / Words Bounce features three artists from different places who work in installation, print-making, video and photography. The exhibit comes as the Nanaimo Art Gallery wraps up its latest year-long thematic inquiry: “How can we speak differently (scekwul yuxw ‘alu kws nec’s tu sqwal ct)?” NAG Curator Jesse Birch said the exhibit is the last one until the gallery takes
on a new question. The annual inquiries began, he said, because a single exhibit didn’t seem like enough to reflect on a particular theme. “The questions that these artists are asking (in athut / Words Bounce) are similar to the things we’ve been talking about throughout the year,” he said. Other exhibits have looked at the language of photography, space and other non-verbal ways to communicate. athut / Words Bounce, he said, showcases literal languages and how they shift, transform, and even disappear. “We really wanted to emphasize that in
the last show,” Birch said. athut / Words Bounce hits you as soon as you walk into the gallery, with unapologetic floor-to-ceiling high-contrast paintings by Filipino-Canadian artist Patrick Cruz titled Step Mother Tongue. The symbols created on walls and pottery displays include the pre-contact Indigenous script Baybayin and are inspired by graffiti, cave drawings, alchemical symbols and written language. athut / Words Bounce also features photography and print work by Joi T. Arcand of Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, whose work focuses on the revitalization of Nēhiyawēwin SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 9
(Plains Cree) and her own journey learning the language. Finally, there is a video installation by Susan Hiller called Lost and Found, which features a compilation of voices speaking, singing, reminiscing and even arguing in 23 languages, highlighting endangered languages and their value. NAG’s Indigenous Education Coordinator Arlene Deptuck said the exhibit will also include a series of four Hul’q’umi’num lessons with Snuneymuxw’s Adam Manson. “We’re really grateful to Adam and Gary Manson who are Snuneymuxw language champions,” Deptuck said. “We are open to learning from them, what’s the best way we can be a support for more language learners to bring it back to its rightful landscape?” The Hul’q’umi’num title of Words Bounce - athut - was provided by the Mansons. “It’s allowing the language champions to determine what would be fitting,” Deptuck explained. She said, as the gallery moves into its next yearly thematic inquiry, “What are generations?” there is a continued commitment to make space for Hul’q’umi’num lessons. Deptuck said there will again be a series of four Hul’q’umi’num classes when the next exhibit opens in May, with the group moving into a local coffee shop. “This is not something that we’re just thinking about for this past year,” she said. “There’s a commitment from us for there to be space for continued Hul’q’umi’num classes here and to find ways of connecting it to a question or exhibition.” athut / Words Bounce opened on Jan. 24 and closes March 31.
10 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
GOOGLE ART CAMERA CAPTURES DETAIL IN SALISH WEAVINGS A high-tech Google art camera has allowed the Museum of Vancouver to uncover minuscule details in Coast Salish weavings and other items in its collection. MOV was invited to partner with Google Arts & Culture to digitize pieces in its collection with a custom-built robotic camera during two-and-a-half weeks in January. The items included a Coast Salish mountain goat-hair blanket that’s believed to be from Squamish Nation, plus various Northwest Coast blankets and robes. The camera takes hundreds of small images of each object, which are then compiled by Google into a single gigapixel
image, said Christine Pennington, a curatorial associate at the museum. “This allows for much greater detail and image quality than would be possible with a traditional high-resolution digital photograph,” Pennington said in a statement. “It is hoped that capturing the details in pieces such as Coast Salish weavings can help to ensure that viewing and learning from the pieces is not restricted to those capable of visiting the collection in person.” Pennington said the images allow viewers to see the tiny fibres in the works, which could provide opportunities to study the
techniques that were used in their construction, though it doesn’t reveal information about the actual materials used. The system was designed by the Google Cultural Institute as a way to share priceless works of art around the world while preserving them -- the camera is designed to work with pieces that are fragile and sensitive to both light and humidity, according to Google. The resulting images are expected to be available to view on Google Arts & Culture’s Art Camera website in the near future.
Photo: A twill weave Coast Salish blanket that was photographed by the Google Art camera. Museum of Vancouver Collection.
KWANTLEN STORYTELLER BRINGS CULTURE, HUMOUR TO VPL Joseph A.
Dandurand named Indigenous storyteller-in-residence for 2019
Photos: VPL
By Cara McKenna Joseph A. Dandurand of Kwantlen First Nation sits in a circle of chairs at an East Vancouver library, about to read a scene from one of his plays called Please Do Not Touch the Indians. In the scene, a girl called Sister Coyote goes to a carnival and is both intrigued and horrified to come across a freak show. Before he begins reading, though, he has one request. “I have to ask the audience to imagine me as a good-looking 14-year-old Native girl,” says Dandurand, all tattoos and workboots - a fisherman from upriver - with an implied wink. The audience bursts out laughing. “So you’re going to have
to use your imagination.” Dandurand was recently named Vancouver Public Library’s Indigenous Storyteller-In-Residence for 2019. During his four-month stint, the playwright, poet, anthropologist and author is leading various public events at library branches around the city. He is also being given the time and office space to work on his next project, a book of short stories for children. Dandurand hopes to use the stories at his main role -- the director of Kwantlen Nation’s cultural centre -- where he often works with groups of kids. He finishes reading the excerpt from Please Do Not Touch the Indians, where Sister Coyote discovers a two-headed baby behind the curtains of the carnival tent.
“Anyone here ever go to a carnival?," Dandurand asks. He addresses his audience like they are all old friends of his, responding to each question with a good-natured verbal jab in the ribs. “This is quite a jump for me, going from being a real recluse to, ‘Hey, here I am!’” he shares. “Now I’m like totally exposed. Have you seen my picture in the paper and that? I hate pictures.’” He is humble and a little self-deprecating, but Dandurand has actually accomplished a lot -- he’s produced several plays for adults and youth and a radio script, St. Mary’s, that was produced by CBC Radio in 1999. He has also authored 12 books of poetry, including a new one, SH:LAM (The
Doctor), which is set to be released this April. He studied theatre at the University of Ottawa and worked as a researcher and archeologist for Kwantlen before moving on to manage the Fort Langley-area cultural centre about four years ago. The centre is part of a cultural resurgence for Kwantlen, which was hit hard by colonization. Kwantlen people used to number in the thousands on the Fraser River but the population was decimated by the smallpox epidemic, and then again by residential schools. Dandurand’s mother was five when she was put on a train in Fort Langley and taken to residential school,
and joined the Armed Forces when she was 18. It was there where she met Dandurand’s father. “I didn’t know she went to residential school for almost 50 years of my life,” he said. “She never spoke about it. But she was compensated and she’s home now and she actually teaches in schools about her residential school experience.” Dandurand grew up mostly on military bases, he said, but he always knew he was from Kwantlen and would come home to fish almost every summer. He was planning to jet off to Mexico one summer about 25 years ago when fate had other plans and his chief at the time offered him a job.
He said he is grateful to do the work he does at the cultural centre, as well as writing, because it’s important to educate people on Kwantlen’s story. It is currently being rewritten by people like Dandurand. “Our people tell us that we each have a gift. I hope my gift is how stories come to me. They just kind of pop in my head,” he said. “They say our songs are all floating around and in the air, and (some people) have the gift to hear songs and they’ll come and start singing it … I’m thinking that’s kind of how stories are too.” Dandurand will be reading poetry and stories in Vancouver during two events on March 20 and 26. Details can be found at www.vpl.ca/storyteller.
16 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
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Left to right: Ashley Van Acken (MABR), Steve Adams (TimberWest), Carol Stuart (VIU), Snuneymuxw Elder Geraldine Manson (VIU), Pam Shaw (VIU), Qualicum Chief Michael Recalma, Snaw-naw-as Councillor Lawrence Mitchell and Graham Sakaki (VIU).
WORK BEGINS TO RESTORE COAST SALISH PLACE NAMES ON MID-ISLAND By Julie Chadwick For Snuneymuxw Elder Geraldine Manson (C-tasi:a), what’s now known as Mount Benson is more than just a place to take the dog for a walk and enjoy the view. To her, Mount Benson is Te’tuxwtun, grandmother to the surrounding mountains. Place names in Hul’qumi’num have significance that goes beyond just words, says Manson. They carry the fullness of history, a connection to the environment, emotional meaning, even a way to understand directional guidance and navigation. Manson sits on a roundtable for the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region -a biosphere reserve that stretches about 1,200 square km on the mid-Island. As part of their work, Manson and the roundtable have been designing a Coast Salish Traditional Place Names project.
The project is an effort to re-establish original Coast Salish site names within the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region in partnership with the Snuneymuxw, Snawnaw-as and Qualicum nations. Manson was pleased to learn in January that the Coast Salish Traditional Place Names project was given a $47,000 grant via Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. “Our old people used place names as areas of traveling, as areas of importance,” Manson said in an interview. “Here in Snuneymuxw we acknowledge … village sites, sacred sites, hunting, fishing, camping sites.” Manson said that learning and using the Indigenous names for places keeps important information and history about those sites alive.
For example, what’s widely known as Departure Bay is known to Snuneymuxw as St’lillup, meaning “deep waters.” “It’s the history of the Indigenous people and how they used the landscape,” she said. “Whether it was medicinal [plants], the forest area, how we see the forest, and how names became names, in our language.” Graham Sakaki, a researcher and coordinator who also sits on the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region roundtable, said the new funding will be used as seed money to enact the first phase of the project. He said phase one will involve updating two important regional guiding documents in order to ensure they are inclusive of the viewpoints and perspectives of Indigenous people. “We said, ‘How do we now make sure SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 19
that whatever we do from this point is stemmed from the right beginnings?’” Sakaki said. One of the documents is their Guiding Principles for Collaboration with First Nations, which was put together with David Bob, the late chief of Snaw-naw-as, and Qualicum Chief Michael Recalma. “Yes, there was First Nations input on this, but was there enough? We believe probably not, if we are going to make this into a larger initiative,” Sakaki added. “So we’re going to work with Snuneymuxw, Snaw-naw-as, and Qualicum to create a circle of Indigenous representatives, a circle of experts, to help guide us further on whether this document is inclusive enough of all three Coast Salish nations.” Before traditional place names and their stories are researched, he said, there has to be groundwork established to ensure relationships are built on a foundation of acknowledgement and trust. From there, roundtable members would like to see the implementation of traditional place names but say that it will take “small steps” to get there; one factor to consider is that not all information is meant for the wider public and is sacred or private information only for certain members of a nation. “You can’t just go in and take (knowledge) and consider it everybody’s,” says Sakaki. “And that’s why we took caution in the first steps of this application.” With this considered, some of the next phases of the project could include a trial of establishing place names in ten well-known and accessible places within the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region, including Cathedral Grove, Englishman River, Milner Gardens and Rathtrevor Beach. Both Manson and Sakaki say the financial support is especially timely, because the United Nations has declared 2019 to be the year of Indigenous languages. “We can’t move ahead without recognizing the importance of language, it’s in our stories, in our songs, in our everyday speech,” Manson said in a statement. 20 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
SNUNEYMUXW-CARVED TE’TUXWTUN POLE UNVEILED AT VIU Carving by Elder William Good (Tseskinakhen) tells story of first Snuneymuxw families
Snuneymuxw Elder Geraldine Manson speaks.
Photos and story by Cara McKenna A Snuneymuxw totem representing the beginning of humanity, healing and learning has been unveiled at Vancouver Island University. The Te’tuxwtun Pole, carved by Elder William Good (Tseskinakhen), now stands in the main hall of VIU’s new Health and Sciences building on its main campus in Nanaimo. The pole was officially revealed during a ceremony and celebration on Feb. 9. The event was attended by many of Good’s relatives, members of VIU’s faculty and other members of the public. Tricia Thomas (Laxelewetstnaat), who is Halalt and Snuneymuxw, spoke on behalf of Good about the different elements of the carving and what they represent. The pole features Good’s retelling of the story of some of Snuneymuxw’s first people from Te’tuxwtun (Mount Benson) and St’lillup (Departure Bay). The legend says that after the great flood, two brothers and their parents landed on Te’tuxwtun. The brothers stayed there for a while, and one day saw smoke coming from St’lillup. They hiked to the site and found two sisters staying there, whom the brothers married, representing some of the first Snuneymuxw families stemming from those areas. The story was chosen in part because VIU is located at the base of Mount Benson. “This pole represents the beginning of humanity, of healing and of learning,” Thomas explained. “Culture and art form the core of peoples’ being, and Coast Salish art is a written language. It opens our eyes to historical existence. It tells us who we are.” The top of the pole features a Supernatural Eagle, a messenger from the heavens who brings healing to the people. Below the eagle is a man -- also named Te’tuxwtun -- wearing a sw uq’ wa’lh blanket featuring seawolf designs, another symbol of healing. On the bottom is a frog design which symbolizes luck and good fortune for the students at VIU to succeed in their studies. Carol Stuart, VIU’s vice-president of academics and provost, said she worked with Snuneymuxw Elders Geraldine and Gary Manson to conceptualize artwork for the new building and other facilities on campus. “My first lesson was that this art must represent the Snuneymuxw people, this is their unceded land and we want to install something that would represent a welcome from them,” Stuart said. “The sea wolf, a creature associated with healing and connection to others, became the vision for the art. The seawolf is frequently found in the petroglyphs in this area.” A call for proposals was put out to several Snuneymuxw artists, she said, and Good was selected to create the pole. Good’s son Joel was also commissioned to create a spindle whorl featuring a seawolf that will be installed in VIU’s new trades building. After protocol was complete, Good performed a family Frog Song in celebration with a group of about a dozen of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He explained that it has been a dream of his to see the young people perform a traditional song. “I couldn’t accomplish anything without all my family up here who have helped me and earnestly worked,” Good said. “Especially for these little ones, they can have their dance and their songs back, and their culture. … They can have their ways back and their good teachings.”
Snuneymuxw Elder Lolly Good.
John Harris IV, William Good's great-grandson, and Tricia Thomas.
Satia Lee Diamond Hampton and her mother Lenore Hampton.
SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 23
Good family members wore headbands woven by Thea Harris, with frontlets carved by William and Joel Good. Blankets worn during the event were created by Ay Lelum.
uvic.ca/ worldsfirst
Snuneymuxw Elder William Good (Tseskinakhen) performs a family frog song with his grandchildren, great-grandchildren.
THE EDGE IS HERE
UVic launches the world’s first Indigenous law degree
Feminist, artist, grandmother and embracer of disruption, Dr. Val Napoleon is one of the most influential legal scholars in Canada. She is changing legal education and the lawscape of Canada as co-founder of the Indigenous Law Degree Program. In the Kokum Raven Series, Val Napoleon represents Indigenous law with trickster-grandma Ravens who create spaces for conversations and questions.
LAWYER HONOURED FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO INDIGENOUS RIGHTS A lawyer who has fought for Indigenous peoples’ rights throughout his 55-year career has been honoured for his notable contributions. Marvin Storrow is known for working with B.C. First Nations on cases that have resulted in some of the most significant rulings in Canadian history, including the Supreme Court of Canada’s R. v. Guerin ruling, R. v. Sparrow and R. v. Gladstone. On Feb. 1, Storrow was awarded an honourary Doctor of Laws at Vancouver Island University for his legal contribution towards the formal recognition of Indigenous rights. “I don’t mind challenging the law, because that is how it develops and grows,” Storrow said in a statement. “I realized early on in my life there were people in our Canadian community that were not treated equally and I thought that was wrong.” Storrow was born in Vancouver in 1934.
He became involved in various community and sports activities where he befriended a number of Indigenous athletes and discovered all the injustices they faced under the Indian Act. He attended the University of British Columbia in the 1960s, during a time when Indigenous people who received a university degree -- or became a doctor, clergyman or lawyer -- lost their band status, and weren’t allowed to have their own representation in court. In the mid-1970s, Storrow met then-Musqueam chief Delbert Guerin, who was having trouble finding a lawyer to take on a case regarding an unfair lease agreement deal around its reserve lands. Storrow took the case on, resulting in the landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling in Musqueam’s favour, R. v. Guerin. The ruling established the federal government’s fiduciary duty to Indigneous people, specifically in regards to
their reserve lands. Storrow has worked on many other notable cases, including R. v. Gladstone, the only case to recoginize Indigenous commercial fishing rights. He also is behind R. v. Sparrow, the first case to address the constitutional rights of Indigenous peoples under Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982. Anna Fung, past president of the Law Society of B.C., said in a statement that she believes Storrow’s accomplishments have contributed to a wider push to recognize Indigenous rights and title across the country. “It would be fair to say that the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was made possible at least in part due to the groundbreaking achievement that Storrow accomplished in gaining general legal acceptance of Aboriginal rights and title in Canada over the past several decades,” she said. SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 27
CARLEEN THOMAS SPEAKS ABOUT TWN HISTORY Thomas gave presentation about People of the Inlet at Vancouver Historical Society event Tsleil-Waututh councillor and educator Carleen Thomas gave an overview of her nation’s history in the Burrard Inlet during a presentation at the Museum of Vancouver. Thomas told stories about how the territory has changed since colonization, how her ancestors lived and more to a packed room at a public Vancouver Historical Society event on Jan. 24. Thomas was born and raised on the North Shore and has been on TWN’s chief and council for about two decades. She has a Bachelor of Education in First Nations studies from the University of British Columbia and works for her nation’s Treaty, Lands and Resources department. During her hour-long presentation to a largely non-Indigenous audience, Thomas spoke broadly about everything from the control of First Nations by government under the Indian Act. She spoke about loss of culture that Tsleil-Waututh have experienced because of residential schools and the potlatch ban. “Thankfully there were some strong people who (held onto the culture), they went underground,” she said. “My grand uncles held on to those teachings and helped re-establish it here in Coast Salish territory.” Thomas said there is a renaissance happening among Indigenous youth in terms of a revitalization of culture. She also touched on Tsleil-Waututh’s ongoing struggle with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project that has been imposed in the Burrard Inlet. “We need to be working with each other, because Indigenous peoples of this country can offer a lot,” she said. “We can save what’s happening to our environment. … We need to protect our lands and waters for the generations to come.” More information about Tsleil-Waututh can be found at www.twnation. ca. Updates on future Vancouver Historical Society events can be found at www.vancouver-historical-society.ca. 28 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
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