By Abra Brynne, Executive Director
On Sept 30th last year, our Council hosted Nasookin Joe Pierre, who enthralled us all with the Ktunaxa Creation Story. Not only is he a skilled storyteller, but the story itself drew us into the origins of this place we call home. Few of us can claim connections to the First Peoples of this place. But the Creation Story, nonetheless, contains profound lessons for us all, no matter where we originated.
Inspired by storytelling experiences at previous Council meetings and our anti-racism work, we are reimagining how to come together that is not so tied to white colonial practices. At our AGM on April 26, Ktunaxa ʔaqⱡsmaknik, Michele A Sam will lead us into a deeper exploration of the principles embedded in the Ktunaxa Creation Story. She will weave in the agenda items necessary for our Council, as a BC registered society. And she will help us to understand where our work can be deepened and linked to these landscapes where we live and work. By better understanding how the Ktunaxa Creation Story principles are reflected in this place, we have an opportunity to advance along a journey that allows us to be in right relationship with this place and its First Peoples.
At the Food Policy Council, we often talk about “place-based food systems”. We seek to highlight that food is not disembodied – it comes from a place, is the fruit of the earth, the water, the air, and the people who tend and harvest it. But it is also about embracing the people, ecosystems and cultures of that place. For those of us living in the Central Kootenay , the Ktunaxa Creation Story is but one of many stories that will enable us to embrace and understand more deeply this place, our shared space.
Please join us at our Annual General Meeting on April 26th from 1 – 3:30PM Pacific / 2 – 4:30PM Mountain. We can promise that it will engage you in ways not commonly found at AGMs.