I've been thinking about the forests a lot lately. Since attending the opening ceremony for the "We Carry Our Ancestors" exhibit and hearing St'at'imc knowledge and experience from Dr. Lorna Williams. Then spending some quiet time at the exhibit, singing along to the berry picking song playing from a video. Hearing the words of Lorna, … Continue reading Múc and the Importance of Old Growth Forests
Thanks to Sarinda Hoilett for sharing this post. It speaks for itself, but it was a reminder to me to keep training my brain to get out of the bubble of my own life's privilege. It's hard to conceive the trauma and suffering some people have endured, if you've literally never been exposed to it. … Continue reading Sending love to the Man with Diamond Eyes
On August 4 2017, with 150 days left in 2017, Crystal Fraser and Sara Komarnisky, crafted a list of 150 acts of reconciliation -- small, everyday acts that average Canadians can undertake, as well as some more provocative ones to encourage people to think about Indigenous-settler relationships in new ways. Here they are. Let's work through … Continue reading #150Acts of reconciliation: it just begins with one
Guest post by Sam McKoy. This is a photo I took of myself looking west from the headwaters of Rivers Inlet and Owikeno Lake amidst the Coast Mountains north of Pemberton. This 2013 ski traverse was 27 days long and in 2013. . Identity. I used to identify myself as a soccer player, skier and … Continue reading Sam McKoy invites us to reflect on “identity”
Here is something I heard recently, Junot Diaz in conversation with Krista Tippet, on On Being. There’s nothing about our impoverished political systems, our imagined communities, that is going to be able to hold us together in the face of the coming storm of climate change. We need a lot more than we have. And … Continue reading This is our 2000th post. Thank you for being here.
The Pemberton & District Museum has a plan, to create a trove of memories and tales and jokes and funny sayings, from around these parts, as a way to commemorate the 150th year of confederation. I personally feel a bit conflicted about the whole Canada 150 years anniversary - especially if it's just a billed … Continue reading Got a tale to tell? The Museum needs 150 of ’em
Polek Rybczynski has reprised his photo journal practice this year, and is 48 days in to the project, which goes further afield than the Pemberton 'hood, and extends the length of the Sea to Sky corridor. I've subscribed to his blog - even though my email is out of control and I try to … Continue reading A reminder, a welcome, and a call to action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIoDj2aEKPE I sat up extra straight when I discovered that one of the "teachers" of the MOOC on Reconciliation I'm taking through UBC right now (it's free, and you can still sign up), is from Seton Lake. Gerry Oleman is a member of the St’at’imc Nation from Tsal’alh (Shalalth B.C.) I was excited to hear from a local … Continue reading Could a 20 minute video completely change your way of thinking? It did mine.
Dr. Lorna Williams, "Inside a Residential School" from FNESC and FNSA on Vimeo. A year ago, Dr Lorna Williams shared her thoughts on where we were at, in our national reconciliation journey. She identified what an important role schools play. Dr Williams is a Professor Emeritus from the University of Victoria where she was Canada Research … Continue reading Lil’wat scholar Dr Lorna Williams on why schools are an important place to grow and practice reconciliation
Signal Hill has one of the highest ratios of aboriginal students in the province - 40% of the elementary age kids come from a First Nations background. That means, two out of every five kids in the school come from a culture for whom school is not a safe place – not a refuge … Continue reading The bravest day of the year
The Wellness Almanac 