ÍY, SȻÁĆEL (SENĆOŦEN)/eyʔ skʷéčəl (lək̓ʷiŋínəŋ)/Good day!

Hopefully the cooler temperatures are finding everyone in a good way and we are all moving through the start of September and the last little bit of Summer with good heart & mind. The further we get into fall, the more events there are likely to be so please stay tuned as the land calls us to it!

Members of the Songhees and W̱SÍ,ḴEM communities have been opening their land-based, ecosystem restoration projects and actively inviting settlers to participate. This gives us the chance to join stewards from these communities who are bringing a local conservation organization (HAT see below) into a circle of friendship, allowing us settlers of any lineage to take up our responsibilities as “visitors” here, there are heaps of chances to show up for local Nations and communities in a good way.

If you have the time and are interested, here are some events taking place this month that are all opened to volunteers. You can register for each of them on the HAT website (Habitat Acquisition Trust website!).

• PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ (a W̱SÁNEĆ community-based organization) is hosting a restoration event on Tuesday, Sept 17 from 10am-2pm at SṈIDȻEȽ (aka Tod Inlet), where they are restoring the first W̱SÁNEĆ village site. For more information, check out PH’s website, or register here.
• lək̓ʷəŋən Community Toolshed (linked to the Songhees community) is hosting a restoration event on Songhees reserve lands near Maple Bank on Sunday 22 September from 10am-1pm. You can register on the HAT site by clicking here.
• the W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project (WIP) are hosting an ivy removal work day taking place on Friday 27 September from 10am-2pm on Tseycum reserve lands. HAT once again is hosting the registration, so please click here if you are interested in coming.

In all cases, gloves and tools will be provided, as will some snacks. Bring a lunch, water, and dress appropriately for the weather (these activities take place outside, on the land, rain or shine).

Come and meet like-minded settlers, engage with members of the W̱SÁNEĆ and lək̓ʷəŋən communities, and get to know the territories. Sarah Jim, who hosts the WIP likes to say this work physically decolonizes the land, and that’s huge to support.

QENSET SW̱ HÁLE (take care everyone, in SENĆOŦEN), and have a great start to the week 🙂

This is a bit late in coming (it’s being written 14 August). Huy sxw q’a/HÍSW̱ḴE for your patience!

Unfortunately, there was an event held by PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ today, 14 Aug at SṈIDȻEL, and it was a good one, and my tardiness on getting this up means anyone reading this today missed it. Here’s what else is going on this moon:

• Lekwungen Community Toolshed (https://www.facebook.com/CommunityToolShed/) is hosting a restoration event at Maple Bank this friday, 16 August from 10am-1pm with support from Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT). For more information, and to register, follow this link: https://hat.bc.ca/volunteer/lekwungen-community-toolshed-restoration-at-maplebank-friday-august-16th-2024
• PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ (https://pepakenhautw.com) is hosting another restoration event at SṈIDȻEL this saturday, 17 August from 10am-2pm. For more information, visit the PH site, and to register email Hannah at hannahglass96@gmail.com.
• W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project (https://www.wsikemivyproject.com) and our friend Sarah Jim is hosting another awesome ivy pull on Tseycum (W̱SÍ,ḴEM) reserve lands on friday 30 August from 10am-2pm. This one is also being supported by HAT, so you can learn more and register here: https://hat.bc.ca/volunteer/wsem-ivy-project-healing-the-place-of-clay-friday-august-30th-2024

If more events come up, they’ll be added here.

See you on the land!

Happy New Moon NE SĆÁLEĆE (SENĆOŦEN)/nu schala’cha (Lək̓ʷiŋeníʔəŋ)/my friends,

Another moon begins tomorrow, and according to the W̱SÁNEĆ lunar calendar, this is the time of year that the Sockeye Salmon returns to earth. It’s also the first New Moon since the start of ĆENQÁLES (Summer). Let’s honour the return of the Sockeye and the solstice with some support for our hosts!

With it being summer, if you’ll be taking part in any of the events on the land, please bring a hat, dress in the best way for you to be in the sun/heat, bring HEAPS of water, sunscreen (reef and stream safe, of course!), your ÍY, SḰALEȻENS (good heart/mind/feelings), and a lunch.

If you don’t see an event you can make below, check with your local Nations to see what they have going on, and how you can support. If you live in the “Victoria” area, you can always get in touch with the Victoria Native Friendship Centre and volunteer with them.

EVENTS

 

Saturday 13 July from 10am-2pm join our friends PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ for a restoration day at SṈIDȻEȽ (called on some maps Tod Inlet) and take part in healing the first W̱SÁNEĆ Village site. Register by emailing our good friend Hannah at hannahglass96@gmail.com

Weds 17 July 10am-2pm you can double down that work at SṈIDȻEȽ with more PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ restoration day! This one is supported by our other friends at Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT) register HERE.

Friday 19 July 10am-1pm for a Restoration Day on Songhees reserve land supporting the Lekwungen Community Toolshed (also supported by HAT). If you’re interested in coming, please email Gavin at gavin@hat.bc.ca to register.

Fri 19 July – Sun 21 July there is of course the Sampson Family Powwow Honouring WƏTANMY. There’s a chance that volunteer registration is closed. Contact the Sampson family if you’d like to see if there is a chance to volunteer. If you are looking to come witness on the day, and support the Sampson family’s annual event, check the site out HERE.

Friday 26 July 10am-2pm our good friend Sarah Jim and her W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project are hosting a Restoration Day in the forests on Tseycum reserve lands (HAT is making my life easy and supporting most of these events). Register HERE.

While the South Island Powwow is taking place a few moons from now (Monday 30 September, Orange Shirt Day or the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation), the volunteer applications are now opened! Take a look here: https://songheesnation.ca/south-island-powwow

ÍY, SȻÁĆEL NE SĆÁLEĆE (SENĆOŦEN)/nu schala’cha (lək̓ʷiŋíʔnəŋ) – Good day my friends!

With this post coming in a little bit before the new moon finds us on these territories, there isn’t yet a W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council post from this year about the importance of this moon, PENÁW̱EṈ, the moon of the ḰȽO,EL/kwetlal/camas harvest. Here’s a link to last year’s post about this moon from the WLC, but stay tuned to their instagram to learn more, and to stay in touch with what the Leadership Council is up to.

PENÁW̱EṈ is also a time of year where we are coming into ĆENQÁLES (hot earth) and the beginning of summer on 20 June, and it seems like with the coming summer, the restoration season is nearly in full swing. Here are some events going down under Indigenous-leadership this moon!

Start this moon off in a good way and come on down to the Lekwungen Community Toolshed day of restoration at Maple Bank on Songhees res lands. This event is taking place Sunday 9 June from 10am-1pm, and with HAT’s support there will be gloves, tools, and snacks, but bring your water, sun protection, and a lunch and anything else you feel you might need. Everyone will sign a cultural protocols waiver, and we’ll be doing some good work in a sacred place. For more information and to register click here.

PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ is hosting a restoration day at SṈIDȻEȽ onTuesday 11 June from 10am-2pm (check out the poster on Instagram). This is part of “Make a Difference Week” a Global Restoration Experience. As always, bring a lunch and some water, and whatever sun protection you need, and come on down! Remember: The parking is about a 15 min walk from the restoration site, so please arrive with enough time to be down by the water for 10am’s opening circle. Email klclarke20@gmail.com to register.

Our friend Sarah and the W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project are hosting a HAT-supported restoration say on the Tseycum res on Friday 14 June from 10am-2pm. HAT will be supplying gloves and some snacks, so bring a lunch and some water (it’s in the ŚIŚEJ or forest so sun protection is a different issue here), and circle up 😀 To register and for more information follow this link and register on the HAT site.

PEPÁKṈ HÁUTW̱ is again teaming up with HAT to continue the work at SṈIDȻEȽ on Wednesday 19 June from 10am-2pm. There will be snacks, good vibes, gloves, and some tools, so bring a lunch and weather appropriate cloths/solar protection, and try to make it down to the water for 10am. To register for this one click this link.

The 29th Annual Sampson Family Intertribal Honouring Wətanmy (formerly the Yellow Wolf Powwow) is also coming up (19-21 July), and as more information becomes available more will be posted here. There have been some changes to how W̱ENITEM (settler) volunteers are being coordinated, so either email me (Kikila, kikilaperrin@uvic.ca), stay tuned here, or bookmark the official site: https://www.sampsonpowwow.com/.

UPDATE (13 June)

The South Island Powwow that’s organized and hosted by the Songhees Nation is now accepting volunteer application. The Powwow will be taking place on Monday 30 September, Orange Shirt Day or the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. If you have the time, and are keen to support our hosts in a good (and safe) way, click the link below and scroll down to the applications (there are a set of 4 buttons, look for the one that says “2024 Volunteer Applications.”

https://songheesnation.ca/south-island-powwow

QENSET SW̱ HÁLE (SENĆOŦEN for take care everyone)! See you on the land 🙂

NE SĆÁLEĆE (SENĆOŦEN)/nu schala’cha (lək̓ʷiŋíʔnəŋ/my friends,

With the arrival of the new moon of SX̱ÁNEȽ, the Bullhead moon, the winds of last week and earlier this week are making heaps of sense, and bringing in some good energies with them. Learn more at the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council’s instagram post about this moon and how it interacts with ĆENQÁLES (hot earth) and how these territories are moving into what in English we call summer.

For us W̱ENITEM (settlers, though this word was once mostly used for settlers of anglo descent), moving into the warmer season is a great chance to get out on the land and support the work of our hosts. It’s a season to be on the land, to be in relationship, and of action. It was sweet as seeing so many familiar faces at the April PH and late April W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project events! So nice to be back on the land with this community! Total blessing.

Here are a couple of events that our hosts are calling us to on W̱SÁNEĆ and lək̓ʷəŋən territory. More will be added as they get posted for the rest of the moon, so check back as we go (especially for the Maple Bank events). If you have some tools, feel free to bring those, gloves too! Bringing a lunch, some snacks, and water is also a good call. PH has tools and gloves, and the HAT supported event will have some snacks, but otherwise you’re on your own!

• PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ are hosting 2 events through May, the first is on 11 May 10am-2pm. To register and for more info check them out here: https://www.pepakenhautw.com/events
• PH’s 2nd event is on 22 May, this one supported by HAT. All the info is currently here, and you can register following this link as well: https://hat.bc.ca/volunteer/1mk5hh45uf7lgw95q1yiljb6ct1bmp
• UPDATE: Our friend Sarah Jim and the W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project are hosting a work party in the beautiful Tseycum forests on 31 May 10-2pm, closing out the month in a good way! With HAT supporting the event, you can sign up here: https://hat.bc.ca/volunteer/6vev3w98nsrf2qm2uddyeq9prs1p6q
• UPDATE: the lek̓ʷəŋən Community Toolshed will be hosting an event at Maple Bank in on Sunday 9 June 10-1pm. Take a look at the event here, and register: https://hat.bc.ca/volunteer/lekwungen-community-toolshed-maplebank-restoration-event

PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ is also hiring. Take a look at their main page (here) for the description and how to apply. DEADLINE is May 12!

UPDATE: The Yellow Wolf Powwow has been announced! While they aren’t yet taking volunteer registration, there has been a save-the-date put out there for July 19-20-21, 2024 at ȽÁU, WELṈEW̱, the Tribal School on West Saanich Road. When the volunteer registration comes up it will be posted here!

See you on the land under the sun (or the rain that some of our leafy relations still really badly need). QENSET SW̱ (take care)!

ÍY SȻÁĆEL HÁLE (SENĆOŦEN)/ eyʔ skʷéčəl  helə (lək̓ʷiŋiʔnəŋ)/Good day everyone,

PEXSISEṈ (The Moon of the Opening hands, the blossoming out Moon) is a time when “the trees open their leaves in welcome, just as the W̱SÁNEĆ People open their hands to show thanks” (W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council). It’s also a time when some of our hosts are starting to express their gratitude with time on the land, stewarding those relations in the plant nations that are being choked out by invasive species. That means the restoration season is about to get growing!

As settlers, this is a good time for us to renew our commitment to being responsible for our being here through “showing up.” The start of the restoration season is a great way to build relationships and connections with members of the communities on who’s territories we’re displacing/living (in my case the unceded territories of lək̓ʷəŋən, W̱SÁNEĆ, T’sou-ke, Sc’ianew, Pacheedaht mostly), to show gratitude for our being here, and to – as Sarah Jim says – physically decolonize the land.

Here are the first bunch of events that have come my way for this moon:

• Saturday 20 April (and others, see the poster!), PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ is hosting another awesome invasive species (removal) gathering as part of the SṈIDȻEȽ Resiliency Project, restoring the first W̱SÁNEĆ Village site that was/is devastated by Butchart Gardens/Vancouver Portland Cement Company. Bring lunch, water, and some hardy pants and the rest will be provided! Register by emailing Hannah: hannahglass96@gmail.com
• Friday 26 April 10-2, Sarah and her W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project & HAT will be hosting the first ivy pull in the W̱SÍ,ḴEM forest 😀 Bring a lunch, water, and some decent shoes and pants (tools and gloves will be provided) and get your hands in the Earth and support a great local project with a fantastic community! Register at: https://hat.bc.ca/volunteer/wsem-ivy-project-healing-the-place-of-clay-april-26th-2024
• Saturday 27 April, time TBD. The lək̓ʷəŋən Community Toolshed and Cheryl Bryce are inviting volunteers out to support the removal of invasive species at one of the Songhees reserves at the end of April, just as the kwetlal (camas) will be starting to blossom. This event is also supported by HAT! More Details will be added as they come, and a registration link.

This is only the beginning, and it’s looking like it will be a good season for getting out and honouring our reciprocity responsibilities as settlers.

If you’re reading this for the first time, and are concerned about being a settler (especially if you’re of European descent) and aren’t sure of how to show up in Indigenous spaces, please have a look at these really awesome resources:

• W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council’s Resources for Settlers page.
• PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ (a restoration organization associated with the W̱SÁNEĆ Tribal School, ȽÁU, WELṈEW̱) has a great page on engaging with community.
• This website has a First Steps for Settlers page that might be a bit longer-winded.

See you on the land and, as they say in W̱SÁNEĆ territory, QENSET SW̱ OL HÁLE (you all take care) 🌱

 

ÍY, SȻÁĆEL HÁLE (Good Day all),

With the coming of the WEXES (frog) Moon and the arrival of ȻENKI,LES (spring, or the Rebirth of the Earth) on 19 March, it looks like restoration season is getting growing again! This is great news. With the season of ȻENȾOȽEṈ (Cold Earth) and all the time spent close with family, community, and coming together in warm ways now giving way to the first of the flowers finding us here, it really does feel like we’re being called back onto the land!

There are a bunch of events at the end of March coming up, and a future update will include any events that get added between now and the changing of the moons in early-April, so stay tuned!

• Weds 27 March 10-2, PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ & HAT at SṈIDȻEȽ (so-called Tod Inlet). Bring a lunch, water, and some decent shoes and pants (tools and gloves will be provided) and spend part of day restoring the original W̱SÁNEĆ Village Site with some amazing friends! Register at: https://hat.bc.ca/volunteer/restoration-at-side-with-pepe-hutw
• Thurs 28 March, 10-2:30pm. Join PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ for a ŚI,ŚEJ (Forest) Restoration Day at the W̱SÁNEĆ Tribal School. Register by emailing Sarah Jim at sarah_jim@hotmail.ca
• Sat 30 March, 10am-2pm. This is a huge co-accomplice team-up for the land! The W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project is inviting the Special Bird Service, and HAT to a bird count with snack, tools, and gloves provided with no experience necessary! Come and learn about our winged neighbours while supporting Indigenous stewardship. Register by emailing Max at max@hat.bc.ca.

May spring find you all in a good way, and may the land call us all back to it so we can (un)learn, support Indigenous-led decolonization, and (re)join a great community!

See you on the land 🙂

We’re almost halfway through the Shaker of the Leaves Moon, and we really are coming to a slow season for restoration events, and other events on the land that are lead by our Indigenous hosts in these territories (Coast Salish, primarily). That doesn’t mean there aren’t heaps of ways to connect.

The only restoration event that’s on any calendars that have made their way to me is:

Lekwungen Community Toolshed

This event will be taking place on the Maplebank Songhees Reserve lands and will see for sure some removals of invasive plant relatives, but it’s also a Planting Day! Come on down and support lək̓ʷəŋən restoration of a very sacred place.

• Friday, 1 December 2023
• 1pm-4pm
• Registration through HAT: https://hat.bc.ca/volunteer/restoration-at-maplebank

Bring a snack (there will be snacks), some water, and your eyēʔ sqȃ’lewen (good heart, good mind) and return some of the plant relatives salvaged from development sites around lək̓ʷəŋən, W̱SÁNEĆ, and T’sou-ke territory as they find a new home.

Other Resources

If you are still looking for Indigenous-led actions and projects to support, try signing up with our hosts, and with the Urban Indigenous community, and other orgs.

• W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council: https://mailchi.mp/f66b33131dd6/wsanec?fbclid=IwAR2S5SbYDPpOduRY0Gn_1LOriFXVQjtaUf0o-PBti05oOxEiFttXAAst4I0
• The Victoria Native Friendship Centre: https://vnfc.ca/community-action-and-learning/
• Contact Songhees if you want to try and get involved with their programming: https://www.songheesnation.ca/
• Surrounded by Cedar: https://surroundedbycedar.com/volunteer/
• Get on the PEPÁḴEṈ HÁUTW̱ volunteer mailing list: https://pepakenhautw.land/volunteer
• and do some googling!

More events will be posted here as they get posted elsewhere. Otherwise, see you in the late-winter/early-spring when the W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project, the Lekwungen Community Toolshed, and other restoration work starts up again.

QENSET SW̱ OL HÁLE (take care everyone)!

With PEKELÁNEW̱ nearing the end of it’s cycle, the Moon that Turns the Leaves White has brought in some transformational energies, turning us towards winter. The colder temperatures and the return of the rains also bring about a slowing down of restoration work on these territories.

This update is for the W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project event that is taking place this Friday, 10 November, on Tseycun Reservation Lands (end of Sunbird Cres.), and hosted by Sarah Jim and her family.

• Friday 10 November
• 10am – 2pm
• Bring a lunch (snacks will be provided)
• Dress for the weather!
• Gloves and tools will be provided

Here’s the link to register through the Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT) website: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=RjbtPgU0ck-E5hcCpNLK-LdRrrQNdfVBrxB-65hurphUN0s0VFdUWjUzVkhNWlRNQ0JWOTVaWFNBWCQlQCN0PWcu

Hope to see you there!

QENSET SW̱ HÁLE!

PEKELÁNEW̱ (moon) events 15 October – 14 November

Happy belated Autumn. Way late update to this calendar, missing an entire moon due to some travel and being super busy catching up. HÍSW̱ḴE for your patience.

Tomorrow (Sunday Oct 15) is the beginning of The Moon That Turns the Leaves White, and with the past week having some fun community events, the arrival of fall and the rains, it looks like most of the events on the land are starting to become a little less frequent.

My friend Sarah Jim hosted the biggest day of volunteers for the W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project, with members of a the Garry Oak Ecosystem Recovery Team conference coming doing some reciprocity work for their gathering, and at this early point in the New Moon, it looks like she’ll be hosting the only restoration event currently booked.

W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project and Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT) will be hosting a community ivy pull on Friday November 10, from 10am-2pm. There’s no registration link yet so please sign up to the Ivy Project’s newsletter, and/or check back here mid-moon when I’ll put up a new post with any other events that come up between now and then.

QENSET SW̱ HÁLE (take care everyone)