Accountability
Accountability is very important to me (Kikila) and to the direction of this project. My accountability is primarily to Indigenous peoples, cultures, ways of being and knowing, and to the land. It is also to BIPOC, LBGTQ2+, and female freedom fighters, organizers, teachers, and activists who lead most of this work, and suffer disproportionately in their service of change.
Parts of the land-based aspects of this project take place on theTseycum Nation (W̱SÍ,ḴEM, unceded W̱SÁNEĆ territory) during environmental stewardship/restoration work under the leadership of Sarah Jim (W̱SÁNEĆ), and is accountable to Sarah, her parents David and Wendy, and to the residents of the Tseycum community. For more information on Sarah and her work restoring her territory, please check out the W̱SÍ,ḴEM Ivy Project‘s website.
Through the summer of 2023, because of Kikila’s relationship with Habitat Acquisition Trust, and through the kindness of an introduction from Ganohalidoh, Learning to Listen has begun working in support of the Lekwungen Community Toolshed, hosted and gathered under lek̓ʷəŋən land defender Cheryl Bryce (Songhees – please Google Cheryl to see a bit about her work). Cheryl is aware of this project, and we are honoured and humbled to participate in this work on lek̓ʷəŋən territory.
In summer 2023, Hannah Glass invited Kikila (we’re friends) to support some invasive plant removal at SṈIDȻEȽ, one of the main sites that PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ is working to restore. Since then, members of the Project Community have been hosted at SṈIDȻEȽ (the first W̱SÁNEĆ village site in what is now called Tod Inlet) in support of PEPÁKEṈ HÁUTW̱ projects and land restoration. Hannah and others like Judith Arney and Kyle Clarke (not to mention Sarah Jim) at PH have been sharing space on the land, sharing their experiences with us, and calling us into relationship and reciprocity (through their facilitation) with this very important part of W̱SÁNEĆ territory and heritage.
This project has received guidance from the Victoria Native Friendship Centre through Tanya Clarmont, through 2020 and 2021.
This project is honoured to be affiliated with the Centre for Indigenous Research and Community-Led Engagement (CIRCLE), and Kikila has and is currently receiving guidance on protocol, methods, and in other ways through the Indigenous scholars, activists, and knowledge holders at CIRCLE.
Kikila is a member of the Environmental Governance Group (EGG) in UVic’s Geography department, which is guided by Sophia Carodenuto.
This project is being financed through a UVic Graduate Award that covers most of Kikila’s tuition (2019-spring 2023), and a personal StudentAid BC student loan in their name. Funding also comes through Kikila’s working part-time (at Habitat Acquisition Trust). In 2021 Learning to Listen received a $300 grant from the CEL Contingency Fund (UVic), and in Fall 2022, this project is also being supported by a small grant from the Sara Spencer Research Award ($2,000, through UVic, click the link then the + near “External Funding”). In fall 2023, UVic’s Faculty of the Humanities awarded Learning to Listen $500 through their Strategic Research Grant. Any future funding awards will be listed here, along with their sources. All grant applications and contribution agreements are available to anyone looking to learn more about how this project has been framed, just send Kikila and email (kikilaperrin@uvic.ca).
Resources
Settler Activists and/or Environmentalists
Forms (For Participation in this project, or other documentation)