Harvesting Traditional Foods with our Songhees Elders & Interviewing our Elders

UVic Living Lab Project planning

Our Songhees Youth interviewed our Elders in both Year 1 and Year 2 of the SAYL – Living Science Lab project.

 

CRD’s Erich Kelch and Keir Cordner from First Nations Health Authority made this trip possible.  Erich drove us out to T’souke.  Having Keir there, allowed our youth to bring the harvested food to our licenced facility.

They joined us in a Traditional Foods harvest, with the permission and proper protocol of the T’souke Nation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elder’s Janice and Joe George brought us out to harvest some food.  It was great spending time with our family.

We learned a lot from them. They taught us about our own seasonal calendar – planting, monitoring and harvesting.

Cynthia Sam, Eugene Sam, and Phoenix Clark want to go back out on the land with Joe and Janice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe (Elmer) George talking to our youth about proper practices and protocol when it comes to harvesting traditional foods on other peoples territory.

Our youth gifted T’souke Nation for allowing us to teach our youth about traditional food systems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joe George, Keir Cordner, Janice George and Erich Kelch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Songhees Youth, Cynthia Sam, Eugene Sam, Phoenix Clark join Joe and Janice George and Keir Cordner and Erich Kelch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We found a lot of oysters, clams, some chiton and a crab.  It was a great experience for our youth who have not had many opportunities to collect seafood in the City of Victoria.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chiton, also know as rock sticker.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Erich holds a small crab that we had to release because it was too small.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

T’souke Nation has amazing beaches and scenery.  Our youth thoroughly enjoyed their time out there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While we were out there, we saw a lot of amazing wildlife.  On our way back to our van, we saw this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Songhees Elder Skip Dick speaking with Cynthia Sam about our history and language.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Songhees Youth and Elder Skip Dick looking at the traditional foods map that our youth mapped with Cheryl Bryce and Phoenix Clark.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frankie Taylor, Rayn Cook-Thomas and Skip Dick.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Skip Dick, Cynthia Sam and Linda-Jane Fisher.