Tag Archives: First Peoples House

For Time Immemorial

Jordanna George, Motherboard, 2020

February 2020 – February 2022

First Peoples House

Curated by Mel Granley (Metis), Young Canada Works Intern
with lessLIE (Coast Salish artist)

2020 marked the ten-year anniversary the First Peoples House. This exhibition focused on Coast Salish title and relationship to land and how this is communicated through art.

In doing a write up for this exhibition I felt a certain level of trepidation that my voice as a Métis and settler person would be inadequate, inappropriate, or too loud, and so I am extremely thankful and humbled to have the words of artist lessLIE to take precedence over mine. If you are non-Indigenous or not Coast Salish my hope is that this exhibition will encourage you to consider your position on these lands, what brought you here, and your responsibilities to the Coast Salish peoples who have tended to this land for time immemorial.  Hiy-hiy!
– Melissa Granley

This continuum of Coast Salish art and artists is a visual means for acknowledging Salish territory… Such a geographical acknowledgement of traditional territories is vital in the 21st century. Most North Americans know the anxiety of protecting land from terrorism and nuclear bombs. In an era of Wet’suwet’en Solidarity and of COVID-19, the acknowledgement of land is vital to the future of humanity.
– lessLIE

Featured artists include Margaret August, Butch Dick, TEMOSEN Charles Elliott, Jordanna George, Stan Greene, Edward Joe, Maynard Johnny Jr., Sarah Jim, lessLIE, Sage Paul, Andy Peterson, Susan Point, Manuel Salazar, Dylan Thomas.

This program is generously funded in part by the Salish Weave Collection.

Our Relations

September 2018 – Closed

Curated by Wyatt Schiefelbein, Young Canada Works Graduate Intern

First Peoples House, UVic Campus 
Lekwungen territory

For hours & location click here

This exhibition focuses on the notion of relationship mîyo-wîcehtowin or good/beautiful relationship. Some pieces tell stories of relationships that have been formed and maintained since the Beginning and which continue to develop to this day. Other pieces show the formation of new relationships based on respect and kinship, while still others reflect the interconnectedness of all things.

By better understanding the ways in which relationships function in our everyday lives, we can learn how to create and maintain mîyo-wîcehtowin on Turtle Island.

Image: The Dance of Life and Death, Abraham Apakark Anghik Ruben, n.d.

We acknowledge the support Young Canada Works at Building Careers in Heritage