We inhabit a moment characterized by the emergence of multiple, entangled crises: destruction of natural ecosystems, growing inequality, and the rise of toxic ideologies across the globe and here in BC. Urgent steps are needed to slow and cease ecologically, culturally and socially destructive systems and redistribute power to those with place-based knowledge and sensitivity to contextual conditions.
Place-Based Responsibility began this work by coalescing knowledge holders with long histories of participation in this work through four themed roundtable discussions. Invited guests focused on those living and working in ways that express care for place: Indigenous artists and ethno-botanists; community organizers, activists and social workers; gardeners and waste remediators; front-line workers in housing and housing advocacy; advocates for cultural labour; and artists engaged with land and material.
Spring 2021 Gatherings and Roundtables
Building Relationships through the Language of Place
January 28, 2021 in partnership with the Aboriginal Gathering Place
How do Indigenous languages support intergenerational knowledge-sharing and collective relationship with land? How can we learn and share language as a means of strengthening reciprocal relationships with place and each other?
Guests included Xwalacktun and Splash/Aaron Nelson Moody (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh); Vanessa Campbell and Jill Campbell (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm); and Carleen Thomas (səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ)
In preparation for this gatherings, Xwalacktun described the role of witnesses from a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh perspective: witnesses have an integral role in our communities to ensure the recollection of events, names, places and people are recorded in a respectful way. The importance of witnessing events in our communities is an oral way to document what was said and important activities that took place. For example, if a name was given there are individuals who would be called to witnesses and they become responsible for remembering the names and the linage of the name. It is important to bring this practice of witnessing to events such as these to ensure we are honouring and respecting the cultural practices of the knowledge being shared.
Facilitated by Connie Watts, this discussion is intended to create space for the host nations to provide meaningful input on place; further insight and awareness of Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing; and strengthen ties between our host Nations and the Emily Carr community. All members of the Emily Carr community are invited to attend this online event.
Matriarchal Strategies
February 24, 2021
How are matriarchal forms of wisdom learned and shared through informal and often invisible networks? How do we honour and take responsibility for these ways of knowing, and how do they inform our understandings of how we contribute to community and place?
Guests include Nicole Kelly Westman, Dan Cardinal McCartney, Reyhaneh Yazdani, Vidya Crawley and Hélène Day Fraser.
Facilitated by Laura Kozak, this discussion intended to look beyond academic sources and methods of knowledge-sharing. It was also meant as an acknowledgment of forms of intelligence that are often discounted or overlooked within patriarchal and capitalist ontologies.
Permaculture as Method
March 17, 2021
How might we consider and apply principles of permaculture – approaches that consider and promote the varied, interconnected relationships between elements within an ecosystem – in our social relations, material models and cultural labour practices? How can we make spaces for economies that are rooted in mutual flourishing and a shared abundance, as opposed to current scarcity-based models that drive competition and deplete our energy and resources?
Guests include Sadira Rodrigues, Annie Canto, Sharon Kallis, Louise St. Pierre, Garima Sood and Emily Neufeld.
Facilitated by Jean Chisholm, this discussion brings together artists, gardeners, and cultural practitioners building and working in cooperative models and community-based mutual-aid. A discussion will explore how these practices sit within or run counter to dominant capitalist systems, and ways we might as a community engage to advocate and support these methods.
Listening to Land
Listening to Land is the continuation of the Place-Based Responsibility roundtable series, building on opportunities for our community to learn from living and working in ways that express care for place: Indigenous artists and ethno-botanists; community organizers, activists and social workers; gardeners and waste remediators; front-line workers in housing and housing advocacy; advocates for cultural labour; and artists engaged with land and material.
These events made possible through funding from the Vancouver Foundation, the Ministry of Advanced Education, and the Association for Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning BC/Yukon (ACE-WIL).