Tonight I attended a lecture on “Decolonizing the Language Revitalization Process” given by April Charlo (Bitterroot Salish people) and Khelsilem Rivers (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh-Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw). There were two points that I found particularly earthshattering. One was that there is no word for sorry in Salish. Apology, regret, and a hope to make it better are not something that you can express in a single word. The concept is much bigger than a single word in the Salish dialect that April speaks and it is something that you have to express in your actions, words, thought and in the impact that it has on another person. What came to mind for me was how Beverley Jacobs responded to the Prime Minister’s apology “What is it this government is going to do in the future to help our people?” How valuable is a word like sorry without all those other expressions behind it? What would an apology from Stephen Harper on behalf of the Government of Canada look like, feel like, sound like if there was no word for sorry?

It is easy for me to tell Stephen Harper he should embody what he talks about, but Klhesilem River said something that made it harder for me to just do that. He was talking about the difference between linguistics and revitalization, where one is the study of a language, which is not focused on creating a healthy community of fluent speakers. Linguistics is learning about a language, not learning a language itself, and yet our language classes are often focused on learning the suffixes and the pronouns and the verbs and all the other parts of the language, or on the translation of words in one language into another, and not on the actual practice of speaking the language. I was feeling really great after the lecture, like I had learnt a lot. And then on processing a bit, it hit me then that in studying decolonization or reconciliation as I am often in First Nations Studies, I am not (necessarily) practicing decolonization, maybe at all. This is a challenging thing for me to face, because FNSP feels lovely and safe, and I feel pretty confident in my ability to discuss decolonization and reconciliation. How can I begin?

By Katherine Carey, a fifth year First Nations Studies student who grew up on the unceded territory of the Bantu people and the Coast Salish people. She has worked for various women’s centres in Vancouver, and is currently completing a practicum for the First Nations Health Authority. This reflective piece was written after she had attended the event on September 25th, 2013 at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Hey guys! There have been a few updates in the past few weeks. First off, the First Nations Studies Program, have announced their new newsletter, ‘The Raven’. Thanks to the hardwork of Erica Baker, Dr. Daniel Justice, Shelley Long, and Kathy Moyou, students now have a bi-annual newsletter that features the on-goings of First Nations Studies Program students and staff. The newsletter can be accessed on the FNSP website and in the blog’s gallery, and happens to feature a section on the ISUJ Blog you’re currently reading! Check it out and get aquainted with what we’ve been up to!

Secondly, a new FNSP student directed seminar course is now being offered in the 2013 academic year. FNSP 433A: The Politics of Indigenous-Settler Reconciliation in Canada will be exploring the topic of reconciliation in relation to Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada. This course is coinciding with the Vancouver National Event of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that is happening September 18th-21st, and also with the City of Vancouver’s official ‘Year of Reconciliation’. For more information on this course, click here to be directed to FNSP’s course listings and register today!

Finally, an update from the Journal team is that all submissions have been collected, and they are currently reviewing materials sent in. We look forward to announcing upcoming welcoming events for the new academic year in the Fall, along with an announcement on the release of the Indigenous Studies Undergraduate Journal.

Happy Summer Days! As of June 14th, 2013, submissions have officially closed. We thank everyone who submitted their work, and the journal team looks forward to reading and reviewing all the great work that has come in. For those anxiously awaiting their copy of the the journal, we have high hopes to have something available come Fall 2013. Keep checking back for more details on the journal, and for upcoming work being posted on the blog!

Hope you’re all enjoying your summer!

– Matt The call for submissions to xʷnaʔələmxʷ sχəχi:ls has been EXTENDED TO JUNE 14th, 2013. Accepting essays, stories, poems, and visual artwork. If you have something that exists outside these realms, feel free to contact us here at the blog, or the journal team in the Contact Us tab. Check the Submissions criteria in the menu bar as well for any other information you may require. We look forward toseeing your work published in our brand-spankin’ new journal!

– ISUJ Blog Team My name is Matthew Ward, currently going into my 4th year of studies at UBC in both Political Science and First Nations Studies. As you may or may not know, I am one of the blog editors here. The team and I have been taking time to relax after bringing this blog and the coupling journal to life. Now that we’ve settled into our summer lifestyles, we’re ready to start accepting and reviewing materials to be posted on the blog! This is open to everyone (students, faculty, citizens from anywhere and everywhere!) and we will accept almost any format of submission! Feel free to share the current submissions and get inspired to share something with us!

Remember, send submissions to email@example.com in order to be considered, and check out the ‘Submit Your Work’ button above!

Ekosi maka, no one would ever call you traditional

you’re not an oldschoolindian bristling with sage and sweet grass

you sing in church, sit in your chair strum your banjo smoke drink

shoot squirrels and raccoons from the porch.

But your mother wrapped you in the Indian way, and she taught your sisters

who swaddled me tight and secured, stopped my squalling

I fell asleep right away

You were in the bush when you were three years old

(did you carry a gun bigger than you)

(did you talk to the spirits then, did you walk in their world, before the priests?)

I’ve seen you hunt; I’ve seen you clean your kills. You taught me.

Mishom, Nimishomis,

I know you beat that priest up when he hit your brother

that you ran away from the residential school, that you made it all the way home

how many days, how many nights, did you spend alone in the bush, on the road

(but you were never really alone, were you?)

You joined the army then, you’re a veteran now. You carry the flags

into the pow wow grand entry, handsome in your pressed uniform, shined buttons

Mishomis, you’re a warrior, aren’t you, but no one would ever call you traditional.

Who would you be

Who would I be if they never took you? Would your low voice

burn warm with the words of our people? Would you sit next to me in ceremonies

I got my clan from you. What’s your name, the one

Creator gave you before you were born in the same room where you watch TV?

My mother reads the missionaries’ records and tells me stories

she translates to English from French from our language,

Nimishomis, those stories should come from you. The First Nation Studies Student Association would like to sincerely thank everyone for their support and enthusiasm surrounding our ‘New Beginnings’ Blog Launch. The event honoured the First Nations Studies Program and also introduced the xʷnaʔələmxʷ sχəχi:ls Journal and blog you’re currently reading (the Indigenous Studies Undergraduate Blog)! Thanks to the dedication of the FNSSA Execs, Journal and Blog teams, a night of celebration was shared with a full house at the Rhizome Café.  The evening began with notable speeches, followed by an exciting dialogue over what the community was interested in seeing in the journal and blog. The responses were overwhelming and our thanks go out to those in the community that shared their thoughts with us.

Our team put in a lot of love and dedication to create an event to showcase our blog that supports the voices of undergraduate students at UBC. This event was only the beginning however, and now that we are launched, we wish to encourage anyone who wants to share their work to submit to the blog or to the first addition of the Indigenous Studies Undergraduate Journal.

We would also like to extend our thanks to the many people that helped make this event possible. To Rhizome Café for their amazing hospitality and delicious food, to the First Nation Studies Program at UBC, to Alexandra (Allie) Downing for her photographs of the event, to all those that shared their work with us and for everyone that made an appearance despite the exasperating rain. We hold our hands up to you for  inspiring us in our pursuits and interests in Indigenous academia.
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