12/26/2025
We're counting down to the New Year with Twelve Days of Quw’utsun Corner! ✨
Over twelve days, we’re revisiting our 2025 monthly spotlights on Quw’utsun Mustimuhw, sharing stories that uplift, inspire, and honor the voices, strengths, and contributions of our community.
Day Three: Sualtiye’ Maiya Modeste - Wulhxus (March) 2025
Our Grandmothers Garden: Reclaiming Our Traditional Foods
Name (Hul’q’umi’num’ and English): Sualtiye’ Maiya Modeste
Family: Brianna Thorne snes lhuna t-en
Chris Modeste snes kwthuna m-en
Silu Deb George (nee nash)
Silu Ken Thorne
Silu Diane Modeste
Silu’elh Wes Modeste
After graduating from high school, Maiya Modeste decided to pursue pre-med at UVIC, but soon realized her passion was in other areas. In her second year, she took courses that aligned with her interests and values, like Indigenous studies. But she decided to take a break from school after her grandma Deb George and late grandfather asked her to come work with Stqeeye’ Learning Society as a Youth Land Steward.
“At first, I didn’t believe I had the skills or knowledge to fulfill the role I was being asked to do,” said Modeste. “My grandparents both told me that one never feels ready for change, but they both believed I could do it. I am grateful I listened to my grandparents and not my self-doubt.”
Currently, she is the P’hwulhp (Garry Oak) Restoration Coordinator at Stqeeye’.
Since 2014, Stqeeye’ Learning Society has operated as an indigenous-led organization focused on land restoration and education. The society began when Joe Akerman, Maiya’s cousin, approached her late grandfather to work together towards their shared dream of revitalizing and returning to their home village, Xwaaqw’um, on Salt Spring Island.
When they were starting out, Stqeeye’ hosted volunteer-run youth camps that in Modeste’s late papa’s words “put a heartbeat back into this land”. Stqeeye’ now hosts cultural camps for youth, in collaboration with various school districts. Students participate in cultural activities, land-based learning, and work with staff and volunteers to accomplish restoration projects at Xwaaqw’um. Additionally, there are wetland and stream restoration projects underway, with the goal of welcoming fish back into the streams. And finally, there is Our Grandmothers’ Garden, Maiya’s passion project.
Our Grandmother’s Garden is a native food garden that provides a safe, accessible space for everyone to learn about, participate in, and support First Nations food sovereignty and security. Maiya’s primary role is to oversee the garden, including tending to the speenhw (camas), by weeding, seeding, and getting rid of invasive plants and grasses so native plants can thrive.
“The Cowichan people have been intentionally excluded from their territories for over 150 years by colonization,” said Modeste. “Reclaiming the speenhw and p’hwulhp meadow at Our Grandmother’s Garden, promotes food security and sovereignty over our diets.”
Traditionally, speenhw was one of the main staple foods for Cowichans and for many other neighboring tribes. These bulbs were a source of carbohydrates like potato or rice. Before colonization, there were vast amounts of speenhw that were stewarded by the women in Cowichan families and prepared and cooked by the men.
Speenhw bulbs were also important because Cowichan’s used them to trade for things like mountain goat wool and obsidian.
“One can imagine just how large the camas meadows must have been to sustain feeding families and trading with other nations,” states Modeste. “An important part of my work is educating on how sophisticated and large scale our traditional cultivation practices were, so people are not so quick to discredit our knowledge of agriculture. Taking back our inherent right to steward our land how our ancestors have, not how Western society believes we should, drives the work I do.”
Intergenerational and collaborative learning is another hallmark of the garden. Stqeeye’ works with Elders and knowledge keepers to ensure that the history and responsibility to the speenhw and p’hwulhp meadow is not lost, while also collaborating with scientists and other professionals. Modeste says the words of all who have collaborated live on through the garden, may it be advice, stories, or teachings.
“When our Quw’utsun peoples get to taste the foods that our ancestors ate, I believe a sense of pride will return for our traditional foods and the way we stewarded these meadows. My hope and dreams are to feed Elders’ traditional meals from the garden and to have our youth and future generations learn how to take care of it, how to prepare it and how to cook food from it.”
The team at Stqeeye’ is always looking to build new relationships and expand the programming they offer. To volunteer or to receive more information, please email [email protected].
Website: www.stqeeye.ca Instagram and Facebook: .
