“Reconnection and Reconciliation in the Salish Sea, Pacific Northwest” is the specially featured section in the Winter 2017 issue of Langscape Magazine. Three writers from around the Salish Sea region contributed stories to this section. On Salt Spring Island, Joe Akerman comes home—literally and metaphorically—to Hwaaqw’um, a village site of his Quw’utsun (Coast Salish) ancestors, as a place to “heal the land, relationships with one another, and the people and communities around us as we find ways to reconnect to the natural systems that give our lives deeper meaning.” Hwaaqw’um is now a sacred space for Joe’s Quw’utsun relatives to gather again and to engage with members of the Salt Spring community in a caring dialogue on “reconcili-action.” Salish Sea resident Rob Butler calls for a “renewal of our ancient relationship with nature”—one that has long been embedded in Indigenous ways but has largely been lost by settler populations. As a path toward that renewal, he pro…

The east coast of Vancouver Island is a rolling forested plain that narrows towards the south where the mountainous spine of the island edges towards the sea, and two rivers, the Cowichan and Chemainus, drain the ancient forests through valleys and fertile deltas. Offshore, a maze of smaller islands forms a seemingly impassable wall along the Gulf of Georgia - the inland sea which separates Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands from the distant mountains of the continental mainland.

A rain shadow cast by the Olympic Peninsula provides the east coast of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands with a distinctive climate characterized by mild, wet winters and long, cool summers. With the stabilization of present sea-levels some 5,000 years ago, human beings began to efficiently and sustainably exploit the riches of land and sea abound. Wealth was available from the air to the ocean. In winter, ducks by the thousands flocked to wetlands and natu…

Local community and First Nations gathered this past weekend to celebrate National Aboriginal and Father's Day at Xwaaqw'um Beach (Burgoyne Bay). The family friendly cultural gathering was a celebration and learning about Coast Salish culture and traditions to nurture "Sound Relations" between settlers and First Nations peoples. The gathering included stories from the land, Tzinquaw Dancers from Cowichan, a community potluck with delicious, traditional salmon and moose stew, the Sisters of Mercy Choir and drumming and singing with the Unity Drummers & Singers from Victoria. The event was sponsored by the Xwaaqw'um Project Team, Sisters of Mercy Choir, Salt Spring Chamber of Commerce, Salt Spring Island Foundation, Community Fund for Canada’s 150th and Island Women Against Violence (IWAV).

Four generations of Quw’utsun Tzinquaw Dancers danced the unveiling of the new Xwaaqw’um (Burgoyne Bay) Welcome Poles carved by local Cowichan Master Carver Harold Joe this past Saturday on Salt Spring Island. The ceremony attended by over 200 locals, family, friends and relatives of Hul'qumi'num community members was an unprecedented event in the recent colonial history of the island. Burgoyne Bay, whose traditional pre-settler name is Xwaaqw’um, was the site of indigenous long-houses, gatherings, hunting and ceremonial life long before colonial inhabitants began making home on the island. Revival of traditional culture, appreciation and reconciliation work is taking root on the island, as in other parts of Canada, and the Welcome Pole raising is the beginning of much planned work to care and respect for the historical past and present for traditional teachings and indigenous land stewardship. The Welcome Poles were unveiled and named with a traditional naming ceremony, dance,…

Salt Spring Island is famous for many things— the Saturday market, the scenery, the cheese, the beer and a woman who tried to abduct children and eat them. Many years ago at the north end of the island there was a small village at P’q’unup (“white shell ground”) with a healthy population of young children. One summer day while they were playing on the beach a tall female stl’eluqum, (“dangerous, fierce, powerful being”) emerged from the water and strode toward them. “Tsuhatluts thu snes”, she shrieked “I am Tsuhatluts (Tzu-HAT-luts) of whom your mothers have spoken.” They all knew the history of Tsuhatlutz, who abducted the young, smeared their eyes with pitch and carried them away from their families to be cooked in her great earth oven in the woods. Until now she was only a story. The children were transfixed with fear at her sudden appearance. She easily picked them up one by one and, before placing them in her great basket, she dabbed pitch on their eyes to seal them shut.…