Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx Voices
Please note: These are just a few Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx Voices, as a place to start your own research and learning.
![Folini, F. (2012) jumping coyote CC BY-SA 2.0 [image] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coyote_(Canis_latrans)_(7147080735).jpg <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/D-u8xKao9R0AygGIO4g10x72EaMgNVsKE27zEwW8Kcd58sCMrpKLKMiOpmcTiEJO8-IAs1cyuIfDv7h6aNdXF5Xe3G1WoltPrTy2raBqo_mBJddHBszSXcuaucWXt6JmbQ=w1280)
Folini, F. (2012) jumping coyote
Learning requires exploration of one's identity. (FNESC, nd.)
"Identity connects people to each other, to communities, and to the land. The exploration of identity includes developing an understanding of our spaces and places in the world. These are the places that we are connected to , not the places that others connect us to...." (Chrona, 2022, p167) As settlers living on the traditional unceded territory of the Sinixt/Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx Peoples, it is important that we begin to explore our own identities and reflect on how our relationship with this land we love, implies a relationship to it's First Peoples. Through the stories of Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx People, reflecting on their identities and how they continue to be connected to this land, we can begin to better understand our selves. Seeing more clearly, we can more authentically become the people we are called to be.
Website of the Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx People https://sinixt.com/
Capitol Theatre (2023) Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx 2023 Canoe Journey. [video] https://capitoltheatre.ca/video/
For the last several years the Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx have been holding an annual canoe journey through their territory in June. This video documents the 2023 journey.
Boyd,S. and Lamere, D. (2022) Older Than The Crown. [film] PBS. https://www.pbs.org/video/older-than-the-crown-zfgf7g/
Older Than the Crown - Documentary Film can be watched at PBS.org. It documents the history of the Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx People who came to be declared "extinct" by the Canadian Government in 1956, which removed their band status in Canada just before major dams were completed on the Columbia River. Through the efforts of Sinixt hunter Rick Desautel and other Sinixt leaders who are now members of the Colville Confederated Tribes, in 2021 the Canadian Supreme Court declared that the Sinixt people are rights holders in their traditional territories in what is now known as Canada. This is their story.
Lamere, D. (2023) Resist, Reclaim, Reframe: Upper Columbia River. [video] Vimeo. War Pony Pictures https://vimeo.com/752431347
Shelley Boyd
Shelley Boyd is a Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx leader and activist, as well as language teacher, holding a Masters from Gonzaga University. She is currently the Executive Director of the Inchelium Language House. She was the Arrow Lakes facilitator and worked tirelessly to build connections in Canada to help bring the Sinixt back to their traditional territory. She is quoted extensively in the book Geography of Memory (2022). To hear Shelley speak, listen to the beginning of the film above, which documents Sinixt efforts to hold Tech Cominco accountable for their pollution of the Columbia River.
Another video of Shelley introducing Ric Gendron in Revelstoke.
Desautel, R. (2021) Rick Desautel of Sinixt Nation who fought for Reinstating Tribal Hunting Rights in Canada. [video] youtube.
Peskotomuhkati Nation At Skutik https://youtu.be/L-aESTKBhws?si=C-4fjQJm6mzDPmkq
Rick Desautel
Rick is a Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx hunter and community leader working in the Fish and Wildlife Department for the Colville Confederated Tribes and Sinixt Confederacy. You can read about Rick's powerful story of devotion to bringing his people home in the book Geography of Memory (Pearkes, 2022). Through his efforts hunting in Canada he was able to persevere through the Canadian Court system until the Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx were re-recognized as Canadian Aboriginal People in their traditional territory in 2021. The Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx provide information about the "Desautel Decision" at the Canadian Supreme Court, which affirmed Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx rights in their traditional territory.
Mobbs Image (2024) of Ric Gendron's Coyote mural in Nelson
Ric Gendron
Accomplished Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx Artist Ric Gendron created this mural in Nelson, BC (above) as part of the annual Nelson International mural festival. Sadly, Ric passed away this past July 2023.
https://muralroutes.ca/mural/by-ric-gendron/
Book: About Ric Gendron Kwilstn - Sweatlodge (Peterson, 2023)
Gendron, R. (2019, April 29) Northwest Profiles | KSPS PBS | Gendron (Artist - Musician) ksps pbs youtube.
Louie, T. (2021) Bad River Blues [video] youtube https://youtu.be/5iFAPhH4BXY?si=TT5rVafNBFzju4OT
Tony Louie
Tony Louie is a Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx country/blues musician and composer. He also works at the Inchelium Language house, becoming a n̓syilxčn̓ language teacher. (Bio) You can listen and support Tony by following his social media links below.
Just James, Louie, T. Apr 30, 2021 DreamCatcher Visions - KnowMadic Mind (Just Jamez & Tony Louie) [video] youtube.The Collective. https://youtu.be/r9czPJDLjW0?si=0bM0baqILF-vVdSA
James Pakootas
James Pakootas (Just Jamez) is a Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx interdisciplinary artist, intertwining poetry, hip hop music, dance and film. He describes himself as a "story weaver" who uses his art to cultivate "change through the power of words" (James, 2024).
Last year James performed at the first "Stoodis Indigenous Film Festival" in ʔaqyamǂup/k’iyá’mlup (Nelson), as well as at Nelson's Elephan Mountain Literary Festival. He is a multi-award winning artist, who continues to perform and create story through collaboration across the USA and internationally.
Reyes, L. (2016) Lawney Reyes: Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project (Segment 1) [video] https://youtu.be/UgDCrWvkMFY?si=-TVme9vrIC3g2r_M
Lawney Reyes -Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx artist, curator, author and activist. Reyes was invited to accept the Dukhobor apology at k’pit’els (now Brilliant) at the unveiling of a memorial near the Brilliant Cultural Centre on land that was supposed to be reserved for the Sinixt, but was sold instead while Reyes' Grandfather and mother were still living on the land there. Read my overview of this and related documents here.
Books by Lawney Reyes:
White Grizzly Bear's Legacy: Learning to be Indian (2002) (autobiography)
Bernie Whitebear: An Urban Indian's Quest for Justice (2006) A biography of his brother, Bernie Whitebear who became an important Indigenous leader uniting diverse urban Indigenous Peoples in the Pacific Northwest. He founded the the Seattle Indian Health Board, the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, and the Daybreak Star Cultural Center.
B Street: A Gathering of Saints and Sinners (2008) University of Washington Press. (Describes his experiences during the building of the Grand Coulee Dam)
Wiley, L. (2024) On the Gift of Talking With Fluent Elders. [video] https://youtube.com/shorts/ZnTzRJhPkL4?si=-mKMADiLUFITGfcQ
LaRae Wiley
LaRae Wiley is the founder of the Salish School of Spokane, and was named "Inland Northwest Woman of the Year" (2023) and a 2023 Luce Indigenous Knowledge Fellowship winner. for her efforts in language restoration. Recently, she and her husband Christopher Parkin started a language program locally at Selkirk College, so the n̓syilxčn̓ language could once again be learned and spoken in the traditional territory of the Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx Peoples.
LaRae Wiley is also a musician, creating music in n̓syilxčn̓ language. Listen to her music and support her artistic efforts on her bandcamp site.
Image of Inchelium Pow wow. Pouley, M. (2012)
Inchelium Language House
Affiliated with the Salish Language School of Spokane, the Inchelium Language House, aims to revitalize the n̓syilxčn̓ language of the Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx people. Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx leader Shelley Boyd is the director of the Inchelium Language House, and LaRae Wiley is founder and Executive Director of the Salish School of Sokane.
Hall, B. (2020) Selkirk College [image]
Beginners n̓syilxčn̓ 1 (pronounced in-seel-h-chin) at Selkirk College
Teachers can now learn the language of local Sinixt people through this course offered at Selkirk College, offered by Sinixt language teacher LaRae Wiley and her husband Christopher Parkin.
Reflections for Educators:
What are your personal qualities that you bring to your work? (Chrona, 2022, p.168)
What is your personal connection to the land you live and teach on? How does your connection to the land inform your teaching and relationships with your students?
What are your relationships with Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx people?
What did you know previously about the Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx people and how they were declared extinct by the Canadian Government?
Did you know the Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx people are the only living people who have been declared extinct in Canada? The Sinxit believe that part of the reason they were declared extinct in Canada was to clear the way for future dam building, which has now flooded many former villages and burial sites built near the river. Knowing that the Columbia River and Arrow Lakes, the heart of their traditional territory, produces around 40% of the total US hydroelectricity and around 50% of BC's, how does this make you feel about Canada's integrity with the Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx people?
In what ways can you personally work towards learning from, understanding and building better relationships with the Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx people?
What is holding you back?
References:
Acker, K. (nd.) coyote in tall grass.[image] NPS. https://www.nps.gov/caha/learn/nature/images/DSC_6240361_2_1.jpeg
Boyd,S. and Lamere, D. (2022) Older Than The Crown. [film] PBS. https://www.pbs.org/video/older-than-the-crown-zfgf7g/
Capitol Theatre (2023) Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx 2023 Canoe Journey. [video] https://capitoltheatre.ca/video/
Chrona, J. (2022) Wayi Wah! Indigenous Pedagogies – An Act for Reconciliation and Anti-Racist Education. Portage & Main Press.
Desautel, R. (2021) Rick Desautel of Sinixt Nation who fought for Reinstating Tribal Hunting Rights in Canada. [video] youtube.
Peskotomuhkati Nation At Skutik https://youtu.be/L-aESTKBhws?si=C-4fjQJm6mzDPmkq
FNESC (nd.) First People’s Principals of Learning. https://www.fnesc.ca/first-peoples-principles-of-learning/
Folini, F. (2012) Jumping coyote [image] CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coyote_(Canis_latrans)_(7147080735).jpg
Gendron, R. (2019, April 29) Northwest Profiles | KSPS PBS | Gendron (Artist - Musician) ksps pbs youtube.
https://youtu.be/Y49uNrDzjbg?si=LD1olRS3_BGignB9
Hall, B. Selkirk College - Image of Selkirk College. Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=112726614 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selkirk_College#/media/File:Castlegar_Campus_1.jpg
Just James, Louie, T. Apr 30, 2021 DreamCatcher Visions - KnowMadic Mind (Just Jamez & Tony Louie) [video] youtube.The
Collective. https://youtu.be/r9czPJDLjW0?si=0bM0baqILF-vVdSA
Lamere, D. (2023) Resist, Reclaim, Reframe: Upper Columbia River. [video] Vimeo. War Pony Pictures https://vimeo.com/752431347
Louie, T. (2021) Bad River Blues [video] youtube https://youtu.be/5iFAPhH4BXY?si=TT5rVafNBFzju4OT
Mckinnon, S. (Apr 29, 2019) Northwest Profiles | KSPS PBS | Gendron (Artist - Musician)
[video] youtube. KSPS PBS. https://youtu.be/Y49uNrDzjbg?si=aQtN3RTwDdHxZmIw
Mobbs, M. (2024) Ric Gendron's Coyote mural in Nelson [image}
Pouley, M. (2012) Image of Inchelium Pow wow. (cc licenses) https://www.flickr.com/photos/switchermark/7308877570
Pearkes, E.D. (2022) The Geography of Memory: Reclaiming the Cultural, Natural and Spiritual History of the Sn̓ ʕaýckstx (Sinixt) First
People. Rocky Mountain Books.
Reyes, L. (2016) Lawney Reyes: Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project (Segment 1) [video] youtube. Seattle Civil Rights and
Labor History Project https://youtu.be/UgDCrWvkMFY?si=-TVme9vrIC3g2r_M
SINIXT CONFEDERACY (2023) Sn̓ʕay̓čkstx Sinixt [website] https://sinixt.com/
Wiley, L. (2024) On the Gift of Talking With Fluent Elders. [video] youtube. ksps pbs.
https://youtube.com/shorts/ZnTzRJhPkL4?si=-mKMADiLUFITGfcQ