June 8th we celebrate World Oceans Day! You are invited to our virtual festival and gallery ~~~ https://oceandefenders.ca/virtual-festival/
We recognize that this project, though virtual this year, speaks to connections with places that lie in the unceded traditional territories of many Coast Salish nations and beyond. This includes the W̱SÁNEĆ and Hul’q’umi’num (Quw’utsun) around Salt Spring Island, where the project is based. These nations have and continue to have a deep, strong connection to the waters we are honouring through this project. This connection is told through place names, stories, cultural practices and more. Above and beyond a simple acknowledgement, we would like to foster a commitment to putting this recognition into meaningful action by aligning our stewardship actions with movements for indigenous cultural revitalization, land rights and title, and stewardship models. This includes a commitment to learning and openness to feedback on this process. If you’d like to make a personal commitment to this work, here is a great local project to learn about and support:
The Xwaaqw’um Project supports continued Hul’q’umi’num use of the land and sea at Xwaaqw’um (Burgoyne Bay) on Salt Spring Island BC, including upholding responsibilities and connections to the land, the ancestors, to each other and to all animal and plant relations. The core goal is to have everything we do feed back into providing outdoor opportunities for youth to re-engage with culture, language and ways of life that have been forcibly removed from Indigenous communities. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xwaaqwum/ Website: https://www.xwaaqwum.com