Identity Through A Journey With Our Ancestors

• Main Author: Hunt, Marie Loreen
• Other Authors: Walsh, Andrea N.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: First Nations; Indigenous; Identity; Ancestors; Place; Time; coeval; landscapes; film; Rupert
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1828/5672

Relationships and connections with our traditional, spiritual, cultural practices, and the physical landscapes of our traditional territories are inherent to our Kwagu’ł being. This thesis research explores how developing relationships with landscapes contributes to cultural identity. My research project focuses on using digital video to document an experiential journey of Kwagu’ł community members as they experience a Kwagu’ł origin site in their traditional territories of T’sax̱is (Fort Rupert, BC), a small remote village on northern Vancouver Island. I specifically examine how being in a particular place might influence their identification processes as they reflect on Kwagu’ł practices, values and beliefs. According to our Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw nino’gad (knowledgeable ones), wellness balances and integrates the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual elements of our being. The disruption of these fundamental elements of wellness is a legacy of Indigenous people’s encounter with colonialism. These factors ultimately affect our behaviour, and therefore, our identity. In this film, titled “Identity Through A Journey With Our Ancestors”, I explore: 1) how an experiential journey to Kwagu’ł origin sites contributes to a Kwagu’ł person’s perception of who they are and where they come from; 2) how Kwagu’ł people develop a coevalness with their ancestors, their ancestral ontological practices, teachings and ideologies; and ask 3) how Kwagu’ł people should embody this knowledge so that it creates meaningful connections to Kwagu’ł identity in light of socioeconomic and cultural changes of our contemporary environment? This paper accompanies the film and elaborates on the deeper understanding of cultural identification practices of aboriginal people that stems from a discussion of origin sites and their meanings. K’waxalikala (tree of life) frames this inquiry, and it illustrates relationships and connections that are important to our life-long learning both on an individual and collective basis. Graduate ...