The s-kwíkwal Initiative was a collaborative project between The Art Farm and our partner Talaysay Tours. s-kwíkwal is a shíshálh Nation word that roughly translates as ’story’; a story based on someone’s real life events, as opposed to myth or legend.
The demand for Indigenous Knowledge Carriers and Cultural Ambassadors has grown exponentially in the past ten years; a reality lived by our project partner, Talaysay Tours. While this growing demand speaks to a changing consciousness in Canadian society, the on-the-ground approach to reconciliation remains mired in the colonized systems it seeks to subvert.
The trauma of colonization continues to have real-life impacts on Indigenous communities, families and individuals—missing and murdered women, alcoholism, poverty, high rates of disease related to PTSD. As we turn to our Indigenous colleagues to build relations and heal these wounds, we need to ensure we are not caught in the same ‘extractive’ model that got us here in the first place.
Dates: 2023-2025
In partnership with:
Talaysay Tours
project aims + outcomes
Inspired by the wisdom, integrity and joy of the west coast Potlatch, the s-kwíkwal Initiative explored a holistic grassroots approach to empowering and tooling Indigenous Knowledge Carriers, storytellers and artists while holding space for the ongoing impacts of colonialism that can affect individuals on a personal, familial and community level.
The program also developed clear guidelines for settlers and settler-led organizations (within the arts and beyond) that broadens our understanding and appreciation for the challenging work and practice that Indigenous Knowledge Carriers, storytellers and artists engage in.
reciprocity
Reciprocity is at the heart of this initiative, and we have learned so much about what this word means from working along side Talaysay Tours. Reciprocity is about relationship. It is about listening, but it is also about sharing. It is about stepping into the circle and sharing your own ‘real story’. Every day, we are asking Knowledge Carriers to step in and share what they know and understand. We can do the same, with humility and vulnerability.
how we can give back
Through the ongoing work of this initiative, The Art Farm and Talaysay Tours identified two specific areas that Indigenous Knowledge Carriers could use ongoing financial support:
Training and mentorship
Indigenous Knowledge Carriers are eager to train and mentor their youth but may need financial support to make this happen. Knowledge Carriers are on a lifelong journey of learning themselves and may also need financial support to take the time they need with elders, family, and other Knowledge Carriers to learn and grow. If you are connected to an Indigenous Knowledge Carrier, ask them how you could best support them in this important work.
Restorative and healing practices
The work of sharing ‘the real story’ can be hard and taxing. Indigenous Knowledge Carriers deserve time and space for their own healing and restorative practices. This is different for everyone, but it too requires financial or in-kind support. Consider how you or your organization might be able to support Knowledge Carriers in this way.
what now?
The Art Farm and Talaysay Tours recently teamed up to launch ‘Ambassadors of the Land’ – an initiative aimed at developing a sustainable training and mentorship program for future ‘Land Ambassadors’ on the Shíshálh swiya.
The Art Farm will also be supporting the development of an Indigenous-led arts and healing initiative that provides ongoing cultural and restorative practices to Indigenous Knowledge Carriers, artists, and storytellers.
Talaysay Tours has launched its own ‘Cultural Safety and Trauma-informed Practices’ training program for businesses, organizations, schools, and governments. Please visit their website here for more information: Indigenous Cultural Safety & Trauma Informed Practices – Training in Vancouver & The Sunshine Coast — Talaysay
If you are interested in learning more about any of these initiatives, please contact us here.
why did the art farm lead this initiative?
The Art Farm is committed to a vision where people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities can engage in creative projects that reconnect us with the land, ourselves, and each other. This commitment has led us on a deep journey of relationship building with our host First Nations, the Shíshálh and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh people. We’ve witnessed the impacts of colonialism through these relationships and collaborations. We have seen how these impacts have real-world consequences that many of us, outside of Indigenous communities, do not face. We have learned through this process that authentic collaboration with Indigenous partners means accounting for these day-to-day impacts—the niece that needs support, the residential school survivor who has fallen ill—and building in time and space to adapt and accommodate as needed.
The s-kwíkwal Initiative speaks to a challenge the arts sector, indeed Canadian society, must face as we aim to “decolonize” the systems that define us. These efforts require collaboration with Indigenous partners. In the arts sector, this includes everything from project design through to production and presentation. Across many sectors, however, there is a similar pattern. Indigenous Knowledge Carriers are approached at multiple stages of projects for input, ideas, consultation, knowledge-sharing, and more. As our awareness of the traumatic legacy of colonization grows, our yearning for rectification grows too. Yet, there is very little understanding and appreciation of the costs required to cultivate, nurture, support and sustain Knowledge Carriers. The approach to engagement remains extractive. Amending for injustices within the systems that created them inevitably leads to more injustice.
We come to this project with great humility. The Art Farm has played a role in this extractive approach to Indigenous collaboration. When we first began reaching out to our host Nations for partnership, we would come with an idea for a project and seek their blessing to do it. It took many years of honest feedback to recognize how this approach ‘took’ something (a blessing) with little consideration for what we could give back (beyond a financial honorarium). When we committed to a more reciprocal approach to engagement, we began to appreciate the level of commitment and resources this takes, along with the relentless energy required for Culture Keepers to show up, be present, and share their stories with the wider world.
So why us? We are not experts in this. We are not ‘qualified’. But we are experienced at leading initiatives where expertise and qualifications are simply not that helpful. Our mandate includes “holding space for the mess of creativity”, and the s-kwíkwal initiative required just this. We were honoured and privileged to partner with Talaysay Tours as we dove into the mess of this work, and we are pleased to share what we learned along the way with you all.
We acknowledge the financial support of:
