Updated December 2, 2024
Community members in the Cowichan Valley created 84,000 fish rubbings to honour the estimated 84,000 juvenile steelhead trout, lake trout, cutthroat trout, and other species that died in the Cowichan River in July 2023 due to environmental stress. We created collagraph prints by gluing cut-out fish shapes to cardboard and rubbing these shapes onto long rolls of brown craft paper with wax crayons.
We honoured water, fish and their watershed habitats by:
- visualizing the number 84,000 and beginning to comprehend the immensity of the loss of life
- growing skills to stay present in ourselves when grief arises while growing bonds of connection and healing in community
- expressing and honouring our love of the natural world and our place in it
- learning from facts and factors that contribute to this kind of ecological disaster
- encouraging dialogue and other forms of stewardship actions we can take individually and collectively
Watch our 3-minute introductory video.
Read on to learn about the river ceremony, ecological grief circle, and curated exhibit we hosted for community members to explore ways to respond to feelings that arise when we lose what we love.
Sunday, September 22, 2024: Quw’utsun Sta’lo’ Skweyul (Cowichan River Day). This event was held in conjunction with World Rivers Day.
Over 75 people stood shoulder to shoulder along the Quw’utsun Sta’lo’, taking part in a ceremony to share the Project 84,000 community artwork with the river. We unrolled 14 rolls of mural paper, each 50-feet in length, with crayon rubbings of fish on both sides, on a pathway adjacent to the river. Community members held the artwork and witnessed the unrolling and re-rolling of the artwork. After the ceremony, everyone was welcome to express their gratitude for the fish and water at a special activity hosted at the Cowichan Lake and River Stewardship Society’s booth. These written expressions were integrated into the exhibit at CVAC gallery.
Wednesday, October 16 from 6:00-8:00 PM: Ecological grief circle with community members
Cowichan Valley Arts Council Gallery, Cowichan Community Centre, 2687 James Street, Duncan
Are you feeling fear, sorrow, anger, guilt, anxiety, confusion or numbness about changes in nature? You’re not alone. Community members joined us for a sharing and listening circle to transform their feelings into healing medicine.
October 1 – 19: Project 84,000 community art installation at CVAC gallery
Cowichan Valley Arts Council Gallery, Cowichan Community Centre, 2687 James Street, Duncan
Thank you to the over 1,400 community members who created the artwork at these events:
- April 3, 2024: Stth’lhnamut sqw’ulum (First Salmon Ceremony)
- April 4, 2024: CVAC Art Exhibit opening
- April 11, 2024: Lake Cowichan School Health Fair
- April 21, 2024: Xpey Planting Day
- April 21, 2024 from 1:00 – 4:00 PM: B’Earth Day, Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre, 1845 Cowichan Bay Road
- April 22 and April 23: Project 84,000 Collagraphic Plate-making Workshop at Vimy Hall, 3968 Gibbons Road
- May 1, 2024: Art for Wellness Youth Event, CVAC
- May 8-10, 2024: Honouring Community Grief workshop
- May 13, 2024 from 6:30-7:00 PM: Pre-Event Activity to Cowichan Watershed Board Speaker’s Series
- May 15, 2024: Cowichan Tribes Annual Open House, Si’em Lelum Gymnasium, Duncan
- May 25, 2024: Cowichan Valley Climate Solutions Expo, The Hub at Cowichan Station, 2375 Koksilah Road
- June 8, 2024: Lake Days, Lake Cowichan
- July 1, 2024: Canada Day at Lake Cowichan
- July 6, 2024 from 11:00-12:00: Mural unveiling at Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre
- July 13, 2024: Duncan Days
- July 16, 2024: Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable Summer Picnic at Stoltz Pool Provincial Park
- July 19, 2024 from 10:30-11:30 AM: Children’s program (ages 5-12 welcome) at Cowichan Branch of the Vancouver Island Library
- July 20, 2024 from 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM: Celebrating Water Festival – Weir All Connected, Saywell Park, Lake Cowichan
- July 27, 2024: CVAC outdoor art market
- August 17, 2024: Duncan Farmers Market
For more information about Project 84,000, contact:
- Jennifer Shepherd, Community Researcher, Xwulqw’selu Connections, jshepherd@uvic.ca (236) 800-9011
- Judy Brayden, Cowichan Lake and River Stewardship Society, judybrayden@shaw.ca
Founding Community Partners
Community Supporters: Contributed materials, venues, funding, human resources, or other project supports
- Cowichan Lake Arts & Culture Society
- Cowichan Lake and River Stewardship Society
- Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable
- plentiFILL
- Town of Lake Cowichan
- Vancouver Island Regional Library, Cowichan Branch
- Vimy Community Club
- Xwulqw’selu Connections
Participating Schools, Camps and Groups
- Alexander Elementary School
- Sunrise Waldorf School
- Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre
- Cowichan Preschool
- Cowichan Secondary School’s Environmental Stewardship Class
- Cowichan Watershed Board
- École Cobble Hill
- Maple Bay Elementary School
- Palsson Elementary School
- Providence Farm
- Shawnigan Lake Montessori Preschool and Childcare
- Shawnigan Lake School
- Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society
- St. John’s Academy Shawnigan Lake
- Sunrise Waldorf School
- The Grove
Resources
“Cowichan River Fish Mortality Event Summer 2023 – Impacts to fish and how to avoid a repeat” Slide presentation to Cowichan Watershed Board on January 29, 2024, by Mike McCulloch, Anadromous Fisheries Specialist with BC Fisheries, West Coast Region, BC Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship. Available at: https://cowichanwatershedboard.ca/meetings/
Media Stories
CBC News: Drought signs raise fears of another fish die-off in B.C. rivers, published May 8, 2024
Cowichan Valley Citizen: Coming up in Cowichan, published May 8, 2024
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