Updated November 11th, 2015: As of right now, our “A Place Name Party” for December 21st, 2015 is sold out. We are overwhelmed and ecstatic by the response. There is a small wait list though. We are grateful for the interest in our work. Please stay tuned as we announce more details for this exciting project.
A Place Name Party
Kwi Awt Stelmexw is a non-profit organization new to the arts & culture scene in Vancouver. Our work is to strengthen the Coast Salish heritage, language, culture, and art of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Peoples. Join us at our launch event for the “oh the places you should know” project.
In 1937, City of Vancouver archivst Major Mathews interviewed respected Sḵwx̱wú7mesh historian August Jack Khatsalano to contribute to the documentation of place names around Vancouver in the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Language. This map, written in a shorthand writing system at the time, is now being updated and re-released 78 years later.
Join KWI AWT STELMEXW at our launch party and unveiling of this mapping project that brings together cultural history, language preservation, and re-recognition of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh identity on the social, political, and cultural landscape.
Place Name Recognition
Vancouver is filled with place names. Most Vancouverites recognize names like Davie, Denman, and Granville, or neighborhoods like Gastown, Mount Pleasant, and the West End. Beneath this veneer of a great city is the language and land history of an older society that has existed here for thousands of years.
Kwi Awt Stelmexw is proud to pre-release the beta version of the “oh the places you should know” project. This map shows place names in and around Vancouver in the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) language.
We at Kwi Awt Stelmexw believe place name recognition can be an entry point to redress and restitution.
The beta includes no audio component at this time, but we will be developing that for the official launch of the project on December 21st, 2015.
December 21st, 2015
6:30pm Doors
7:00pm Event Starts
Sold Out
Click the image below to see the map project.
Edit: “This map shows Sḵwx̱wú7mesh homelands and territory. Where one might mistakenly assume “boundaries” applied here refer to strict or defined territoral boundaries, the map is intended to show the main areas of use and occupancy by the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh.”
