Stqeeye’ Learning Society

$59,000

Tiny Home For Sale

Buildings & Tiny Homes: For Sale
November 26, 2024

This 25 foot 150sqft tiny house, was built on a 5th wheel trailer in 2020 by Rudy Triller of Merville, BC. A delightful space for […]

Stqeeye’ Learning Society has passed the halfway mark in raising funds for our new home at Xwaaqw’um (pronounced KHWOK-wum), the Hul’qumi’num name for the Burgoyne Valley. To celebrate we wanted to share a story about a video we made a year ago, but had to take down shortly after it was made, because it contained a name and an image that we wouldn’t be able to use for a year: Tousilum. Prior to the arrival of settlers, the Cowichan village of Xwaaqw’um was rich in resources, including up to 5 long houses that were stewarded by a Cowichan Chief named Tousilum, and his family. With the arrival of settlers and a colonial government dedicated to solving the so-called “Indian problem”, Tousilum and his family were forced to leave the lands they had stewarded since time immemorial. In our culture hereditary names are passed down over the generations; the names tie us to the lands, resources and ceremonies we belong to. In following with that tradition, the name was passed down …

Many Hearts Beat As One at Stqeeye' Presentation for the Garden Club

A growing desire to collaborate and build relationships with local First Nations led to a funny, informative and often emotional presentation to 81 members of the Garden Club last week, as they hosted members of the Stqeeye’ Learning Society team to talk about the nature restoration work Stqeeye’ is doing at Xwaaqw’um (Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park). The evening began with a premier of Stqeeye’s new video “Camas” (see below), which describes the millennia-long relationship between the Quw’utsun people and the camassia plant that was one of their staple foods. The video was followed by Maiya Modeste, Stqeeye’s Garry Oaks Ecosystem Coordinator, presenting her aspirational “menu” of native foods, as they might be prepared once her restoration work brings them back to the mountain slopes and valleys they once covered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmTnBSYayhU Maiya was followed by biologist Rachel Bevington, Stqeeye’s Wetlands Coordinator, who shared the exciting progress o…

Walking Together - Stqeeye' Presents to Probus Members at Xwaaqw’um

WALKING TOGETHER - Stqeeye’ Presents to Probus Members at Xwaaqw’um The sun came out for a beautiful presentation by the Stqeeye’ Learning Society, near the water in Xwaaqw’um (Burgoyne Bay Provincial Park) on Tuesday morning. Brianna Thorne, Education Coordinator, presented alongside her daughter Sulatiye’ (Maiya Modeste), the P’hwulhp (Garry Oak) Restoration Project Coordinator, detailing both the history of the Quw’utsun people on Salt Spring Island and Stqeeye’s history as a fast-growing organization doing land and wetlands restoration work in Xwaaqw’um village area. The presentation was well attended by members of the Salt Spring chapter of the Probus Club, a volunteer-based, non-profit, non-political, non-sectarian fellowship organization with over 4,000 clubs worldwide that provides fellowship, friendship, and fun for those in their retirement and semi-retirement years. Probus Member Heather Neville, an avid birder, gave a moving land acknowledgement to start the c…

Set A Place for Stqeeye’ - Salt Springers step up to support indigenous land acquisition campaign

Spurred by growing community interest in supporting the Mi tse’ t’akw’ (Coming Home) campaign to acquire 10 acres of land as a new home for the Stqeeye’ Learning Society, the Set A Place for Stqeeye’ program for gatherings, dinners and local events has been launched. Community groups, neighbourhoods and friends are invited to gather together to help bring the Quw’utsun (Cowhichan) people back to their ancestral lands near Xwaaqw’um Village (Burgoyne Bay) for the first time in over 150 years. Groups can participate by planning a gathering in whatever way they most enjoy - with friends, a meditation group, yoga class, book club, church group, hiking club or a larger gathering of an organization - and making a donation of whatever size the group feels comfortable with. Planned events can be registered at tinyurl.com/stqeeye, and Stqeeye’ will lend support for the event, including informational materials, stickers with the beautiful campaign logo and a link to videos that can…

Stqeeye' celebrates mi tse’ t’akw’ land campaign progress at Mateada event

A packed house of supporters shared a delectable 4 course meal from a menu based on Indigenous food prepared by chef Haan Palcu-Chang at Mateada on Friday night and loved the fantastic Ts'msyen roots-rock of Saltwater Hank and his band, who flew down from Lax Kxeen (Prince Rupert) for the occasion. Throughout the evening, moving presentations from Stqeeye' Elder, board member, coordinators and Youth land stewards inspired the crowd about the campaign to purchase 10 acres in Xwaaqw'um (Burgoyne Bay) on the land of their ancestors to provide a home base from which to grow the Stqeeye' programs and a home for Quw’utsun (Cowichan) people. "It was a total privilege to be there to celebrate something so historic, so healing, so collaborative and so effective in bringing back a powerful culture by educating the young. We were thrilled to be present and to meet the Indigenous Elder, educators and the youth and to witness their capacity and joyous excitement," said attendee Bryn King…

Stqeeye' Learning Society Land Acquisition Campaign nearing end of year goal

On Giving Tuesday, a focus on reconciliation may be on the minds of many on Salt Spring, and there's an extraordinary opportunity to bring the two together in the mi tse' t'akw' (Coming Home) campaign, which is raising money for the indigenous-led Stqeeye' Learning Society to acquire a 10-acre property in Xwaaqw'um (Burgoyne Bay), a village that is central to 600 generations of Quw'utsun (Cowichan) history. This once-in-a-generation campaign will bring the Quw’utsun people back to their traditional territory for the first time in 150 years, so that they can expand Stqeeye’s important work on Salt Spring. The purchase of this property will support a variety of important outcomes: Transfer of knowledge to a new generation of Youth on the Land Protection of forest and wetland habitat for endangered species Construction of a nursery to grow 80,000 native plants for land restoration work Restoration of indigenous food systems flourishing with camas and traditional plan…

Community fundraising effort comes together to bring Quw’utsun elders back home

The Stqeeye’ Learning Society is thrilled to announce Mi tse’ t’akw’ (Coming Home), a once-in-a-generation fund-raising campaign that will bring Quw’utsun (Cowichan) elders back to their traditional territory in Xwaaqw’um (Burgoyne Bay) for the first time in 150 years. The community of Salt Spring Island is already coming together to support Stqeeye’s acquisition of an extraordinary 10-acre property adjacent to Xwaaqw’um that is uniquely suited as a home base to expand their on-going wetlands restoration work, their P’hwulhp (Garry Oak) restoration project, and their Youth on the Land program, which reconnects youth with the land in a process that heals both, at a time when both are in distress. The total goal of the campaign is $1,929,000, including just under $1 million for the land, and the rest to fund renovations, develop the land and launch an associated social enterprise. Foundations and private donors have already stepped up with $500,000 in funding, providing a g…