Building Relations through Storytelling

Project Leads

Chepximiya Siyam Chief Janice George, Hereditary Chief, 厂岣祑虫瘫飞煤7尘别蝉丑 (Squamish) Nation

Team Members

Sub-Theme: Content of Citizenship

The sub-theme 'Content of Citizenship' explores through different projects the meaning of citizenship beyond a legal status, as the expression of a collective identity grounded in a shared sense of belonging to a particular national community.

Objective

鈥淏uilding Relations through Stories鈥� is an Indigenous-led project focused on non-extractive, land-based work rooted in Indigenous epistemologies. The research honours territorial protocols and prioritizes giving back to the community by facilitating the gathering of traditional knowledge to be passed on to future generations. The project is led by 厂岣祑虫瘫飞煤7尘别蝉丑 (Squamish) Hereditary Chief Chepximiya Siyam鈥� Janice George.

The 厂岣祑虫瘫飞煤7尘别蝉丑 are one of the Original Peoples of the lands now occupied by the city of Vancouver. Chief Janice George will invite all 16 hereditary chiefs of the 厂岣祑虫瘫飞煤7尘别蝉丑 Nation to participate in talking circles, where they will share origin stories and reflections on land stewardship. By reclaiming familial chieftainship stories from the land and educating non-Indigenous community members on the importance of being a respectful guest鈥攔ather than a settler who perpetuates colonial dynamics鈥攖his project supports 厂岣祑虫瘫飞煤7尘别蝉丑 self-determination and aims to foster stronger relationships between newcomers, Canadian-born settlers, and the Squamish Nation.

This study will result in the creation of a docuseries and a children鈥檚 book. These resources will empower the Squamish Nation鈥檚 hereditary chiefs to share previously less accessible knowledge with current and future generations. The docuseries will be made available not only to the 厂岣祑虫瘫飞煤7尘别蝉丑 Nation but also to settlement and community organizations for use in their programming for newcomers and settlers to support reconciliation. The children鈥檚 book is designed for use in the classrooms of the 厂岣祑虫瘫飞煤7尘别蝉丑 elementary school and for children and family audiences more broadly.

Research Questions

厂岣祑虫瘫飞煤7尘别蝉丑 hereditary chiefs will be invited to reflect on the following questions:

What are the 厂岣祑虫瘫飞煤7尘别蝉丑 Squamish Nation families鈥� traditional leadership stories?
If there was something you wanted children to know in seven generations, what would it be?
How can uninvited guests best show respect and care for the land?

Methodology

Art-based methods (weaving workshops), autoethnography, oral history, talking circles

Related Projects

(Antje Ellermann)

Status

The project is currently in the Planning stage.

Outcomes

Past events and presentations:

Film Screening; Threads of Time, Museum of Vancouver, 15 August, 2025
Interactive Plenary/Roundtable with the Film and Media Studies Association (FMSAC), Kingston ON, Queen's University, 28 May, 2025
WhereWeStand Keynote Address and Film Screening in Vancouver, Liu Institute for Global Issues, University of British Columbia, 1 May, 2025
Interactive Plenary/Roundtable: Two Days of Canada at School, Brock University, 27 March, 2025
Centre for Migration Studies-Sector Research Collaborations Day 2024, UBC Centre for Migration Studies, 13 November, 2025
One Land, Two Hearts: WhereWeStand, Rodman Art Institute of Niagara, St. Catharines, 19 October, 2025
鈥溾€�, led by Chepximiya Siyam鈥� Chief Janice George and Skwetsimeltxw Willard 鈥楤uddy鈥� Joseph, CMS, Vancouver, Canada, April 20, April 27, and May 4, 2025
Presentation of Belonging in Unceded Territory project to IRCC Citizenship Program, presented by Ellerman, A., 21 November, 2024
One Land, Two Hearts: WhereWeStand at Centre for Sound Communities, Centre for Sound Communities at Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS, 5 November, 2024