What does it mean to sing settler songs on stolen land?
How can we honour, through song, the sufferings and sacrifices of the emigrants and settlers who shaped this place we call home, while working to end the injustices they brought with them?
How do we create a just and vibrant community when injustice is baked into so much of our culture?
Within the VFSS we are asking these questions, and working to find a good path forward. We say in public that, “We sing and play on the traditional, unceded and rightful territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tseil-Waututh peoples, and we work toward reconciliation through education and building relationships.” This is true, and we are taking steps, and we know we have a long way to go.
We have much more to share in this section–reflections along the way, words from wise guides, and songs to help us with truth and reconciliation.
We say, with Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass,
“I am not from here, just a stranger who comes with gratitude and respect and questions of how it is we come to belong to a place.”
Please stay tuned, and join us in this open-hearted learning process.
From The Archives
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