A filmmaker with a keen-eyed understanding of how Indigenous knowledge shapes understanding of West Coast ecosystems will present a groundbreaking documentary at the Gibsons and District Public Library on June 21.
Kim Recalma-Clutesi, Ogwi’low’gwa, whose ancestral heritage flows from both Kwakwaka’wakw and Coast Salish Nations, will present her 2008 documentary Smoke From His Fire. The film chronicles the life and legacy of late Clan Chief Kwaxsistalla (Adam Dick), the last orally-trained potlatch speaker of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation.
“We always knew [Kwaxsistalla’s] knowledge was immense,” said Recalma-Clutesi. “He was the last culturally-trained potlatch speaker and clan chief who was steward of the land on this coast. His mother had a prophetic dream; he was secluded and trained in these ways. It wasn’t until I was a mature student in university that I realized his immense depth of knowledge in traditional ecological knowledge.”
In the Kwakwaka’wakw tradition, a potlatch speaker catalogues and recounts information that is choreographed into songs and dances. Kwaxsistalla was trained from the age of four to memorize thousands of names, marriages and the succession of status. “Remember, we didn’t have a written language,” added Recalma-Clutesi. “The speaker would know all the laws and vital statistics.”
Kwaxsistalla’s knowledge extended to ecological processes that non-Indigenous scientists are only now apprehending. He became a trusted academic authority on root gardens found from the Columbia River to Alaska, and the intricate cycles of clam cultivation.
Recalma-Clutesi is the daughter of late Clan Chief Ewanuxdzi of Qualicum and a former Qualicum Chief herself. In 2010 she received the Ecotrust Indigenous Leadership Award for work as an activist and political organizer, cross-cultural interpreter, teacher and academic researcher of ethnobotany, reporter, photographer, historian and award-winning filmmaker.
“It’s a race against time [to glean knowledge like Kwaxsistalla’s],” she said. “The old people are dying. We have a whole bunch of residential school survivors now who have pockets of knowledge of these ecological systems, but not the overall picture. We’ve lost a lot and I think we have to start from a foundation of the fact we’re all in the same boat together.”
The in-person screening of Smoke From His Fire on June 21 is free but requires advance registration and space is limited. Details are available by browsing to gibsons.bc.libraries.coop.
Spirit of the West alum to emcee book awards
The Sunshine Coast Writers and Editors Society has announced that its inaugural Book Awards for B.C. Authors on Aug. 12 will be officiated by Vince R. Ditrich, formerly the drummer and manager for the folk rock band Spirit of the West. Ditrich is now the renowned author of a series of books including The Liquor Vicar, The Viar’s Nickers, and The Vicar’s Vortex.
Ditrich will read from his series, emcee award announcements, and be available for book sales and signings. Tickets for the book awards and Art and Words Festival are now available online by browsing to scwes.ca.
