Culturescope.ca - Indigenous Knowledge: Making it personal

Photograph - Traditional Territory - Photo courtesy of Racelle Kooy.jpg

Up close and personal
Indigenous knowledge and spirituality
On the home front: Managing IK in the community
My field of work: tourism
Conclusion: Living culture, evolving IK

1. Up close and personal

As this is an article on Indigenous Knowledge (IK), I am respecting protocol I have been taught in how to introduce myself before I continue. My name is Racelle Kooy. I am also honoured to be known as l’al’ó’ya7. I am a direct descendant of Hereditary Chief Harry Peters and wife Julia of Samahquam (Stl’atl’imx Territory), and of Mary Ann Meshue and Gustav Edwin Hillman of Stswecem’c. I am a proud member of Stswecem’c Xgat’tem (traditional names of two main communities that form the Canoe Creek Band).

I am not an Indigenous Knowledge expert, but an Aboriginal tourism specialist, a First Nation community member, and a supporter of Aboriginal artistic expression. I embrace traditional Stl’alt’imx and Secwepemc spiritual beliefs as a helper to a traditional healer/ medicine woman. In addition, I am a graduate student working with one of my home communities. In all these arenas, Indigenous Knowledge plays a key role.

My spiritual mentors, my family matriarch, Aboriginal Elders from home and afar, my home communities, and various First Nations Chiefs, to name a few, have all contributed to my understanding of what Indigenous Knowledge is. In this article, I share how Indigenous Knowledge figures in my personal life, my community, and work.

2. Indigenous Knowledge and Spirituality

In my experience, Indigenous Knowledge and spirituality are one and the same, or at the very least enmeshed. I consider spirituality as the most sensitive area of IK. This is where the sacred and secret meet. The spiritual aspect of Indigenous Knowledge is literally about the beginning (cosmology) and the end (life after death).

Indigenous Knowledge forms the foundation of my spiritual beliefs. I follow tradition and ceremony that are based on millennia of practice. This is not to say that my beliefs are stagnant or that I am holding onto the past and ignoring the future. I have learned from my Elders, spiritual mentors and an incredible network of Indigenous people from across Turtle Island. Time spent as a helper to a traditional healer/medicine woman, grounds me so that I may better open my heart to the teachings of others. I have had the privilege of witnessing a diversity of Aboriginal beliefs and ceremonies from across Canada, recognising commonalities and respecting differences that abound.

3. On the home front: Managing IK in the community

As the Secwepemc were given the land; they were also given a language. Language was given to the Secwepemc by the Creator for communication to the people and to the natural world. This communication created a reciprocal and cooperative relationship between them and the natural world which allowed the Secwepemc enabled them to survive and flourish in harsh environments [sic]. For example, the Secwepemc receive messages from the animals and birds who tell them when it is time to harvest and gather certain foods and medicines. The cricket will tell the Secwepemc when it is time to catch the salmon.

The language connects the land and the people. The language contains the mental, physical, and spiritual connectedness of the Secwepemc to the land. It protects and maintains all forms of Secwepemc knowledge. It keeps the people whole and connected to the Creator. It maintains the Secwepemc responsibility to the land. The language contains traditional ecological knowledge needed to protect biodiversity and it is used to transmit all forms of knowledge to future generations.

Excerpt from ‘Secwepemctsin- Language of the Secwepemc’ page on the ‘Land of the Shuswap’ website administered by the George Manuel Institute.

As a First Nation member whose community is engaged in the land claim process, IK is integral to proving our long withstanding relationship to, and connection with, our traditional territory.

Despite vast changes that have been imposed within our traditional territory, Stswecem’c Xgat’tem community members continue to practice a wide range of traditional activities. One step our community has taken to demonstrate our occupation and use of traditional territory (and therefore IK), is indicating where we have been by marking the area with a special surveyor’s tape when we harvest our foods and medicines. The tape is marked with the following text: NStQ Secwepem’cul’ecw. NStQ is the acronym for Northern Secwepemc te Qelmucw. When the leaders of Tsq’escen (Canim Lake Band), Stswecem’c Xgat’tem (Canoe Creek Band), Xats’ull (Soda Creek Band) and T’exelc (Williams Lake Band) decided to enter into the British Columbia treaty process, they did so as a single First Nation, known as the Northern Secwepemc te Qelmucw (“NStQ”). Secwepemcul’ecw which, in Secwepemctsin [language of the Secwepemc], translates as: our land, we are the land, the land is us, or the land of the Shuswap.

Currently, in Stswecem’c Xgat’tem, we are forming an Elder’s council. The interest amongst Elders exists and community members are stepping forward. The Elder’s Council is a vital knowledge and guidance resource for band council, treaty discussions, and other needed areas. A key mandate they will fulfil is in clarification of where economic development activities should and should not take place within our traditional territory. Some Elder’s knowledge has already been captured by various means such as recordings and transcriptions which can then be utilized for legal and political purposes. In doing this, the knowledge must be carefully captured so that it is clearly understood.

4. My field of work: tourism

As an Aboriginal tourism specialist, with international, national, and grass roots experience, I acknowledge that IK is intrinsically part of tourism. In fact, IK is what makes Aboriginal tourism distinct. Indigenous Knowledge is represented in the unique cultures, worldview, and artistic expression of Aboriginal Peoples which others wish to experience. The desire to learn about IK is a powerful motivator for many travellers to come to Canada.

If it is the cultural component that draws the tourist, elements of IK have then become commodified. Some Aboriginal People are strongly opposed to cultural tourism for this reason. For others, tourism is perceived as a way to take control of activities and the economy of our traditional territory. With the legacy of residential schools and of past bans on practising Aboriginal ceremony, we are only now reclaiming many traditions that were lost or hidden from public view. The question remains for many if it is too soon to share what we have yet to properly re-establish, or indeed, if it should be done at all.

Tourism is about protection, if we do not get involved who will and whose stories will they tell? We need to tell our own stories.
As stated by Chief Leah George Wilson, Tsleil Waututh Nation, in a speech of welcome to her territory, given at the Turning Vision into Reality, Release of the Final Aboriginal Cultural Tourism Blueprint Strategy for British Columbia event. [The event was hosted by the Aboriginal Tourism Association of British Columbia on Friday, December 7th, 2005.]

In my professional life, I strive to find ways for the tourism industry to operate that respects and reinforces Indigenous cultural heritage and the living cultures of Indigenous communities.

As my community is working towards embarking in tourism, we are in fact choosing to make the tourist part of the community. What knowledge should every visitor have?

We welcome the opportunity to share our culture, respectfully. Through its proper sharing, people will come to know who we are, and accept the truth of our ancestry. We are telling our stories to you in a way you can understand, to help you see, hear and know. And we are telling these stories to ourselves, so that we will always remember, with pride, who we are. Tom E. Lewis, Indigenous Consultant, Dust Echoes

A first step in tourism development (or any economic development endeavour) is, under the guidance of our Elders’ Council and with full community participation, determining what can and cannot be shared. It is understood that if we do not regulate what tourists have access to they may misappropriate it. It is our job to determine how we see our community now and what the limits of acceptable change might be. We recognize that we must control the content and direction of our cultures in tourism and by doing so, prevent misrepresentation or exploitation of our culture. It is our responsibility to develop our own standards of cultural protection. As we work to achieve standards, our communities can reap the benefits of sharing IK through Aboriginal tourism.

For my community, Stswecem’c Xgat’tem, we view Aboriginal tourism as a means of helping retain our culture while exercising control over traditional territory. In addition, tourism has been identified as an economic vehicle that can provide employment, revenue, infrastructure and recreational facilities for community members. We believe that we can develop tourism products that are compatible with nature and the cultural values of our community.

So, what tools are available to Indigenous communities? To govern what is coming into the community, a code of ethics, protocols and clear areas of access need to be determined. To control what is going out of the community, protocols and Elder’s Councils can be utilized to address this area. Explaining these concepts in the context of Aboriginal tourism development in First Nation communities will take time. Having local community members working on such guidelines and governance models is an important part of the process, and comprises a large part of my own thesis work.

A long time volunteer resource person at Xa:ytem Longhouse Interpretive Centre, I have participated in the evolution of first protecting and then sharing a sacred Sto:lo site. Xa:ytem is the site of a sacred transformer stone and of a 9,000 year old Sto:lo village.

Xay:tem offers a unique opportunity to learn about Sto:lo spirituality, archaeology and history at a place where our culture has flourished for thousands of years.
Excerpt from Xa:ytem brochure

In reflecting back on events that transpired to first protect and preserve the site from urban development and then transform the site to accommodate tourism, I am reminded that, from the very beginning, Elders led the decision-making. Cultural advisors and Elders were quietly pushed forward by the community. Honoured with traditional forms of respect for knowledge and wisdom, these individuals were “chosen” and led the direction of the tourism development. With their participation, Xa:ytem was deemed to be an appropriate vehicle for educating and creating awareness about the richness of Sto:lo culture.

Moving beyond regulation and control and into a more holistic approach, education and intergenerational transference also has an important place in the preservation, protection and sharing of IK. In repatriating language, stories, songs, legends and artifacts, we are reclaiming ownership of our culture in a way that will resonate throughout our community. I believe that there is a spiritual memory that remembers the songs and legends of long ago. Through certain processes and practices, various lost or forgotten cultural practices can return to the community. In taking ownership of cultural practices, community members are responsible for them. Traditional forms of ownership are not about legal documents confirming who has the right to the song but the recognition that a particular song is part of one’s lineage and connects that person to their ancestors past, present and future.

5. Conclusion: Living culture, evolving IK

Attending a classic “white dress wedding” held outdoors on a glorious spring day in our traditional territory, I joined my Aunties as they burst into spontaneous song and hand drumming to welcome the newest members of our extended family. An outsider would perhaps have questioned the authenticity of the wedding, given that the bride was in a modern dress and the groom was wearing a tuxedo (Where is the hand tanned buckskin dress? Cedar headbands?). They may have also wondered what consensus process was used to determine what song would be deemed appropriate to sing at such an occasion. We did not question the happy couple or ourselves. We revelled in their choice of attire and sung in unison and without hesitation.

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