Reconciliation is important, but reconciliation alone is not enough. For W̱SÁNEĆ community to begin to truly heal from the immeasurable harm caused by colonial bodies, settlers must engage in reconcili-ACTION.

Reconcili-ACTION is when settlers work with First Nations peoples to take affirmative, action-based steps towards reversing the effects of colonialism and make plans to move forward in a way that is fair to W̱SÁNEĆ and other First Nations peoples. 

The immersion program, W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council (WLC), and the Southern Gulf Islands Community Resource Centre partnered to create a new video series to encourage reconcili-ACTION. The creation of this video series is made possible in part by a grant from the Real Estate Foundation of BC.

The video series educates viewers about W̱SÁNEĆ community’s long-standing relationship with ṮELEṮÁĆES, or “relatives of the deep,” describes the process by which W̱SÁNEĆ were displaced from ṮELEṮÁĆES, and inspires settlers to engage in active reconcili-ACTION to help restore W̱SÁNEĆ’s rightful relationship with the ṮELEṮÁĆES. 

The series includes five short videos. Three of the videos focus on particular ṮELEṮÁĆES – including ṮEKTEKSEN, S,ḴŦAḴ, and S,DÁYES. One video includes an animation about ṮELEṮÁĆES, and the final video discusses the issue of land sovereignty in relation to ṮELEṮÁĆES (land sovereignty video). 

The videos utilize powerful interviews with W̱SÁNEĆ community members such as J,SIṈTEN, ȻOSINIYE, and YELKÁTŦE, to tell the story of W̱SÁNEĆ community’s long-standing relationship with ṮELEṮÁĆES. While the videos describe the displacement of the W̱SÁNEĆ people from ṮELEṮÁĆES, their focus is on how W̱SÁNEĆ persevered through incredible colonial destruction and continue to work to restore their rightful relationship with the ṮELEṮÁĆES today. The videos call upon settlers to aid W̱SÁNEĆ in these efforts by engaging in reconcili-ACTION. 

The land sovereignty video in particular draws upon traditional knowledge and SENĆOŦEN language to help settlers understand that W̱SÁNEĆ belong to the land and have for time immemorial. The video clearly explains why colonial notions of land ownership do not apply to W̱SÁNEĆ’s relationship with ṮELEṮÁĆES. As SELILIYE describes in the video, “the W̱SÁNEĆ people were free. We went anywhere and everywhere . . . there’s not one specific place that we went deer hunting and one specific place for harvesting cedar . . . we just traveled all over the place.”

The video also details the timeline of Canada’s colonization process, and describes the way in which ṮELEṮÁĆES were stolen from the W̱SÁNEĆ people.

To encourage reconcili-ACTION, the videos provide concrete action steps for W̱SÁNEĆ and settlers alike. 

For settlers, the videos provide concrete steps they can take to engage in reconcili-ACTION, such as planting native plants, supporting the use of SENĆOŦEN language, and opening settler-owned land for hunting and gathering. Additionally, the project celebrates settlers who are already engaged in reconcili-ACTION. Those settlers who are embracing the principles of reconcili-ACTION are blanketed and uplifted as models of how to best engage as a ṮELEṮÁĆES settler.  

For W̱SÁNEĆ, the videos provide language the community can use to skillfully teach ṮELEṮÁĆES settlers about the impacts of colonialism and to engage them in reconcili-ACTION.

In addition to inspiring reconcili-ACTION, the videos celebrate the strength and resilience of the younger generation of W̱SÁNEĆ, particularly W̱SÁNEĆ women, and inspire W̱SÁNEĆ people to increase their presence on the ṮELEṮÁĆES.

W̱SÁNEĆ School Board is excited to share this video series with W̱SÁNEĆ community and looks forward to the impact the series will have as W̱SÁNEĆ community works to heal from colonialism. The first community screening occurred in August and had over one-hundred people in attendance. In the new year, W̱SÁNEĆ School Board intends to share the videos at W̱SÁNEĆ schools, to share them more widely with W̱SÁNEĆ community, and to ensure they are available to ṮELEṮÁĆES settlers. 

A documentary series shares the history of W̱SÁNEĆ including the use of the reef net technology. Shown above, W̱SÁNEĆ Youth paddle on the day of the launch of the reef net.