June 28, 2013
Picturing Transformation, Nexw-áyantsut in final design stages!
By
Katherine Dodds
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.
The Uts'am Witness project was for many a very personal experience, but the collective experience changed everything.
And today, as we get ready for 'sovereignty summer' and look at the impact that the relatively recent Idle No More movement is having across this country and internationally, its amazing to be reminded of how much has changed. To do this book, which I co-wrote with Nancy and Chief Bill Williams, we interviewed many of the people who were around from the very beginning of the project. And we also asked some of them how they view the experiences of that decade having an impact, personal or political today.
Both Cease Wyss and Melanie Rivers talk about the Idle No More movement. Cease has been speaking about INM, Uts'am and also her experiernce with the Zapatistas in Mexico as all being part of what she describes as "ceremonial activsm."
Melanie observes that the non-First Nations people who were part of Uts'am Witness are much more ready to take a public stand as allies in the Idle No More movement.
Uts'am Witness was a cross-cultural project. It's founders were a Squamish Nation Hereditary Chief, a young white woman transplanted from the suberbs of the Missisauga to British Columbia, and the late John Clarke, an irrepressibly energetic mountaineer, an Irish immigrant who had done first ascents of 600 mountains in BC.
And as Melanie says, we need this kind of alliance to move the INM forward. There is more unity than the mainstream media would like us to believe!
And so, as we put the finishing touches on this book, it is my own very deep hope that it contributes to this movement for solidarity, justice, culture, ceremony and the love of these lands.
~ Kat for the 'Picturing Transformation, Nexw-áyantsut' team.
PS. It's not too late to be a sponsor and get your name in our book as a supporter. Pre-buy 100 books, or donate $2000 before we got to print and you will be on our list! Contact Kdodds@helloCoolWorld.com.
Tag(s):
First Nations,
Arts and Culture,
Activism & Protests
Recent Blogs by Katherine Dodds:
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