Today has been named National Indigenous Peoples Day. While this is a day that has been set aside to highlight and honor Indigenous people it is this respect, this dignity, this celebration that should a given, every day.
Today is also summer solstice. The day when Sun shines down on us longer than any other and marks brighter days coming and the beginning of summer.
Days like these are opportune moments to reflect on what has passed between the previous year and how we are carrying ourself into the next.
This year has been difficult. These past few weeks particularly weighing heavy on our hearts.
What I feel is, that right now, as things begin to open up and the wheels all start turning again, that we are on the verge of something else. These truths. These powerful Indigenous youth. These loving and fierce leaders. The land defenders and gentle warriors. The Knowledge Keepers and Elders so clear and articulate and inspiring. The work happening right now is powerful, powerful medicine.
So on this day that has been named National Indigenous Peoples Day, this film is dedicated to all the artists, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers who have been working with us at the Noons Creek Hatchery over these past few years. May you know that the teachings you share, the truths that you tell, the love that you have for this land and these waters and for all of our relations is impacting who we are as a community. On this day, may you know that with your work and effort there is healing. With your resilience and perseverance and patience and generosity, people are listening. With your culture, your language, your prayers and songs you are honoured. People are learning how to carry the weight, and more people are sharing in the responsibility to create a better future.
May you have a beautiful day today, and may tomorrow be even better.
Tasha Faye Evans, Project Manager
Acknowledging that we are on the unceded, occupied, ancestral and traditional lands of the Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), Kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Stó:lō Nations.