Photos in this series by Rick Magnell Film and Photography unless stated otherwise
I am deeply fortunate and honoured to live on the unceded territory of the Northern Secwepemc Nation, in T’exelc. The surrounding Nations of Northern Secwepemcúl’ecw are Xats’ull and Esk’et, and we are also surrounded by the Tsilhqot’in, Dakelh, Nuxalk and Metis. These territories and lands were never surrendered.
What follows in the next several installments maps out a personal and professional journey - unchartered waters for myself and the organization I represent. As the waters of confusion cleared for me, I write about it, specifically as it relates to stepping up for a compassionate community and right relationship to Indigenous People in my region. Perhaps you’ll embark on this meandering river with me?
Inhabiting space in Indigenous Territory has taken new meaning in recent years for many settlers and raises the question of authentically engaging as an “accomplice” for Indigenous Rights. Many are asking how to understand the role settlers have as non-original visitors to the places they inhabit. We have the essential guideposts provided by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and countless other resources for coming to understanding and taking action. Personally, through the years of being held and informed by the lands of Secwepemcúl’ecw, I wanted to discover a viable pathway to learn and express to my community how I might transform my relationship to Indigenous Relations and relationship-building. My foundational education on the subject was lacking, and in fact absent from the systems that taught me to believe in false assumptions, obscuring the truth rather than telling it.
The re-education process
can be difficult and beautiful.
Difficult because there is no “knowing” how to navigate these times, especially as we reorient to society and culture enlivened by powerful voices of change, and for this specific project, the voices of Indigenous People. The process was beautiful, because in pursuit of a path forward, I have been incredibly fortunate, and cultivated transformative relationships, especially to my mentors, and to the land of Secwepemcúl’ecw, as well as to my own ancestry.
This project was guided by two mentors. Mentorship has transformed my practice and ability to listen. I have been regularly humbled by the land’s teachings, and by Helen Sandy of T’exelc and Meeka Morgan, who is from St’uxtéws and Toquaht, who were willing to walk this path with me. I hold my hands up in thanks to them, and all the community members I met through them.
My current role as an arts and culture organizer provides a space for dialogue, where creative culture intersects with the socio-political fabric involved in Indigenous relations. Settler folks with access to public spaces, to public funds and to the public are being asked to start conversations that lead to actions that change the nature of our being on Indigenous Land.
Inequities are impossible to unsee once they are exposed.
Deep care and concern are foundational when approaching a subject as nuanced as Truth and Reconciliation. My belief is that artistic processes can catalyze, possibly quicken, change in our world. Arts and culture practices, its creators and thinkers all support and navigate the processes of change by examining and exhibiting the multitude of stories we need to shift from a dominant narrative that has excluded so many. Through creating, expressing and observing art, we learn to get outside of ourselves, into new perspectives, and potentially empathic capacities that help us feel for something beyond our selves. The gifts and the impacts of the Arts on our minds, bodies and spirits send ripples outwards into our lives as we open to alternate modes of seeing.
I invite you to come along with me as I confront a significant question for our times: what is my role and responsibility as a settler on Indigenous lands, and how will I take personal and professional action that creates a society based on care for the whole?
This is a place where I hope you will feel encouraged to ask questions, and to share your points of view with me. Please keep in touch as I release these writings out into the world. The learning always continues…