Arts and Culture (7)
By Katherine Dodds On June 28, 2013 | 0 Comments
We are in the midst of doing the final edits, and it is so thrilling to see our book, 'Picturing Transformation, Nexw-áyantsut' come to life and to know that it will be going to print on Monday July 22!! The book features art works and photos by Nancy Bleck from the last 15 years, i.e. before, during and after the Uts'am Witness Project took place. As I review the essay we've been working on for years now, I've been reflecting on how much this project accomplished and how life-changing it was for so many. 
On the very first Witness weekend in 1997, all those who made the journey to Sims Creek witnessed the Squamish Nation Assertion of Aboriginal Title document. In that first art show at the Roundhouse later that year, Nancy's 48-foot long banner piece had text from that document, and panorama images from the summer of Witness Ceremonies. the images above and below are details from that banner peice.
In our neck of the woods what had been known in 1997 as "Tree Farm License 38" and slated for complete clear-cutting, has been restored to its traditional name of Nexw-áyantsut, meaning 'Place of Transformation'. As part of the Squamish Nation Sacred Land Use Plan, it now is forever protected.
This book is a document and a testament to the journey that got us there together.
Katherine Dodds AKA "Kat" is the founder of Good Company Communications and HelloCoolWorld.com. Trained in renegade advertising & branding through her work with Adbusters in the '90s, Kat's early induction into the possibilities of the web-world was inspired by the term hypertext, which she immediately found comforting. She is dedicated to cause-related communication and to the development and use of tools that promote democratic processes.
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By Katherine Dodds On April 19, 2013 | 0 Comments
It's exciting times! Our book, Picturing Transformation, Nexw-ayantsut cover design is done, and the layout is about to begin (you can see a thumbnail of the cover on the masthead above
It's just a couple of clicks, costs no money, and will help them build their alternative distribution platform for social cause media, a propsal that will give us all more tools to do our work, including this book! We have less than a week to get as many boosts as possible so please click on the boost link, and if you have already boosted share on twitter and facebook. You can only boost once per email address, but you can tweet and like it daily to give them more points. We need everyone who supports us to support this project too! : )
Their platfom will support out outreach efforts to get the book to as many people as possible and will also help us keep this website up to date and engage with more of our supporters.
By Katherine Dodds On October 23, 2012 | 0 Comments
Strong Words from Chief Ian Campbell at yesterday's Defend our Coast Rally. Heartening to see so many people come together, and to see ceremony and protocol being "served' to the politicians!
By Katherine Dodds On July 28, 2012 | 0 Comments
Wow, has it really been over a year that we've been working on this book? We were told it's a long process, and guess what - it is! Exciting though. We just got our second round of re-writes into our publisher, and now, it's really hitting us that in June of next year this book is going to be born! 
While the camping trips to Sims Creek are now over, and the area has been returned to its ancestral name Nexw-áyantsut, our greatest hope is that the process of making this book can be a way to start up a new phase of the Uts'am/Witness Project, one that concentrates on using media to encourage dialogue. We hope to upgrade this website to make it more interactive and to have a story gathering feature. We also hope to have more 'digital extensions' AKA short videos documenting the ongoing work that has been re-ignited by the book process.
Here's a tiny excerpt from the beginning of the book:
Prologue: Picturing Transformation, Nexw-áyantsut
Uts’am/Witness Stories
Once upon a moment in time immemorial, during a decade from 1997 to 2007, a particular piece of land witnessed a transformation. At first known simply as the “Witness Project,” a community formed around an “invitation to witness” during camping weekends on the sandbar at Sims Creek, deep in the northern part of Squamish Nation’s traditional territory. At the project’s conception there was an urgent feeling over contested logging practices in what was being described as British Columbia’s “war in the woods.”
As a formal project, Uts’am/Witness was co-founded by Squamish Nation Hereditary Chief Bill Williams/telàsemkin-siyam; the late mountaineer and wilderness educator John Clarke; and photographer and artist Nancy Bleck. In 1997 Witness came into being officially when Nancy became the artist-in-residence at the Roundhouse Community Centre during the summer of its inaugural year. Out of this seed, the decade-long project grew—with a few unexpected turns. As Nancy said, “It was supposed to be a feel-good art project. But it became political in its very first breath.”
The Witness project was always evolving, defying definition and a clear beginning, middle and end. More than a project, it was a journey.
For Nancy, the journey began by getting to know the land through the camera. For John, it was in sharing his infectious love and knowledge for the land with others. And for Chief Bill, it was about cultural survival. Drawn together by a passion for the land, their commitment to experiencing it, recording it and sharing its significance culturally and spiritually, the three of them collectively conceived a project that none of them could have imagined or enacted alone. As John recalled, “I met Nancy in the best possible way, around a campfire. But when we met Chief Bill, now that was the magic weekend when everything changed.” The process of coming together that emerged from the project transformed one particular battleground into a place of peace
A sandbar became a longhouse, and a sandbar, as sandbars in the wild are known to do, disappeared. What reappeared was the rich traditional history of this special place. A new space of collaboration was opened up, and the public was invited in to witness.
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Now that this milesone has been crossed, there is still lots of work to do! Nancy is working on getting the latest final scans into D & M (and working on a new peice) and Chief Bill is working on getting a Squamish language glossary to be added to the book. And of course now we are into the fundraising stage! Read on...
By Katherine Dodds On September 13, 2011 | 0 Comments
This morning Nancy, Chief Bill and I deliver the manuscript of the book and 201 photo scans to Douglas & McIntyre!
Here is the manuscript with a river rock from Sims as paper weight!
Many thanks to all who have helped to get us here so far.
This is just the beginning of the editorial process. Over the next year, the book will be put together and we will be expanding this website. So watch for updates, pre-sales of the book and launch of our book trailer.
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Hoy chexw'a
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