The Kerrisdale-Musqueam Story Circle, Where Empathy and Creativity Flow Both Ways: A new initiative to transform our places and hearts through Indigenous perspectives and values
The Kerrisdale Community Centre, located in the heart of the Musqueam’s traditional and unceded territory, was once an ancient Musqueam village site. The Kerrisdale Community Centre Society is committed to seeking relevant cultural sources to inform and guide our approach to reconciliation. We seek new ways of interpreting local places and opening our hearts – ways that include Indigenous perspectives and values. We want to make this new and old knowledge accessible to more people, including the next generation of emerging leaders. Accordingly, the Community Engagement Committee, together with Former Chief Musqueam First Nations Gail Sparrow, is launching the Kerrisdale-Musqueam Story Circle in late Spring, 2022. In part, this initiative involves building a pop-up library of Indigenous readings in the Senior Centre’s Lobby for our visitors to read throughout the year. We will also organize a spoken-word event at Centennial Park during the summer.
Beyond the library and summer event, we will establish a safe and collaborative space, under the guidance of Gail Sparrow, to learn our collective history and understand our future potential. In this space, we will examine our beliefs about ourselves in relation to the communities where we live and people with whom we interact, to develop a sense of self as part of something larger. “My grandfather was the one that worked with the settlers here in Vancouver and opened up the roads. The roads were logged by the First Nations and Asian communities. We did a lot to build this area, Kerrisdale,” says Gail Sparrow, who is a former Musqueam Chief. She continues, “Kerrisdale Community Centre could open up more and integrate Indigenous learning approaches in their programs.”
In addition to the Musqueam Nation, we have consulted with the Park Board’s Decolonization, Arts, and Culture Department and have been working closely with the Vancouver Arts Colloquium Society (our community partner) and local volunteers to bring this new initiative to fruition. We will soon announce the opening date and send invitations to the public. We look forward to collaborating in a new conversation with deep listening and open-hearted exchange.
Keiko Honda (Chair) Gail Sparrow (Former Chief Musqueam First Nations)
Mani Bala
Alistair Eagle
Community Engagement Committee
Kerrisdale Community Centre Society
