Andrew Busby with Gitxsan land protector's at the sacred fire, Kispiox, BC, 2022.
Gitxsan land protectors sign at Date Creek Road, Kispiox, BC, 2022.
Gitxsan land protection blockade, Kispiox, BC, 2022.
Kolin Sutherland-Wilson speaking near land protectors sacred fire, Kispiox, BC, 2022.
Kolin Sutherland-Wilson leads UCC students on a forest walk, Kispiox, BC, 2022.
Aritst Arlene Ness at her family's cabin on the land protection site, Kispiox, BC, 2022.
Salmon and bannock lunch at land protection site, Kispiox, BC, 2022.
Carver Dan Yunkws shows a student how to carve, 'Ksan Village, BC, 2022.
Students working with carver Dan Yunkws, 'Ksan Village, BC, 2022.
Oolichan dish made by Patty Rubinato, Hazelton, BC, 2022.
Alex Stoney speaking about his sister Michelle Stoney's mural work, Skeena Valley Recreation Centre, Hazelton, BC, 2022.
UCC students, Skeena Valley Recreation Centre, Hazelton, BC, 2022.
Robbie, Shaan, and Vlad, original organizers of UCC's amnesty international club who first took interest in the TRC's calls, Old Hazelton Village, Hazelton, BC, 2022.
Participants in UCC visits GWES at student entrance with Cathy Busby's WE CALL work, Hazelton, BC, 2022.
Two day schedule for UCC visit to GWES, Hazelton, BC, 2022.
WE CALL: UCC Visits GWES and Gitanmaax/Hazelton (2022)
WE CALL is a multi-iteration wall-text work focusing on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada's (TRC) 94 Calls to Action, released in June 2015. Three site-specific iterations of WE CALL were created through community collaboration, two in 2017—Simon Fraser University's Teck Gallery in Vancouver, and Gitksan Wet’suwet’en Education Society (GWES) in Hazelton—and one in 2018—Upper Canada College (UCC) in Toronto. The latter two are permanent installations.
In 2022, after a year of conversation, Vesna Krstich asked if I would facilitate a two day trip bringing the UCC students to GWES to see the WE CALL work there and meet the Gitxsan students involved in it. Over the course of two days in June, students and teachers from UCC and GWES shared meals, played games and went to significant locations for events and talks. These included watching the 'Ksan Village ceremonies for Indigenous Culture Day, an educational forest walk with Gitxan land protector Kolin Sutherland-Wilson, and visiting Michelle Stoney's large mural in the Skeena Valley Rec Centre. On the last night of the trip, everyone enjoyed a celebratory meal together prepared by the schools cook, Patty Rubinato, who offered a spread of foods including roast moose and a special Gitxan Oolichan dish.
This trip became an important meeting point between different communities and a chance for the UCC students to listen to the lived experiences of their peers from Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en, learning how the TRC's Calls resonated for them. Even though the trip was brief, numerous important and ongoing relationships were formed through this project.
For a full project description of this work, the programming, and its other iterations see my "WE CALL summary" article.
To learn more about the TRC, refer to Honouring the Truth: Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, and the TRC's 94 Calls to Action.