For ten years, thousands of people – artists, loggers, government officials, tourists, youth at risk, families, and children – made the journey from Vancouver to Sims Creek in the Elaho Valley, as participants in the Uts’am/Witness project. These weekend journeys to threatened areas of “wilderness”, hosted by Squamish Nation Hereditary Chief Bill Williams, telasemkin-siyam, brought people into dir
ect contact with ceremony and with nature; with Squamish stories, dance, games, art, and opportunities to hear from elders, scientists, conservationists, and artists from native and non-native traditions. In 1996, the Randy Stoltmann Wilderness Area (named by WCWC) was threatened by logging. Environmental activists who wanted to protect the area found the need to consult the Squamish Nation and its claims, history & stewardship of the Elaho Valley. Only experience of the land will lead people to protect it. They required knowledge of its history, its place in indigenous culture, its geology, plant life, animals... All of which led to building bridges between indigenous and settler cultures, city and rural people, elders and youngsters, scientists and artists, loggers and activists, and to vehicles working their way up the long logging road to Sims Creek every summer. January 15, 2012 at the Roundhouse in Vancouver, 2 -4pm, marked the first event for the Uts'am Witness project since the project finished its work in Sims. We premiered our book trailer, marking the beginning new work, to extend the reach of the project to all four directions. A part of this new work will be the book about the project which will be launching in 2013. We are also hoping to gather stories from those who were part of the past Uts'am Witness project. We are starting to raise money to build a more interactive website, and to subsidize the printing in order to keep the price of the book accessible to everyone. ABOUT THE UPCOMING BOOK
The book, which will be published by Figure 1 Publishing in 2013 will feature photographs by Nancy Bleck Slànay Sp’ákw’us and is written by Katherine Dodds with Chief Bill Williams telàsemkin-siyam and Nancy Bleck Slànay Sp’ákw’us. TO SUPPORT THE PROJECT, YOU CAN PRE-BUY THE BOOK FROM THE HELLO COOL WORLD WEBSTORE. NOTE: the book will not be available until winter 2013.
