by Daniel Kirkpatrick Florence James smiled and said the word again, a little more slowly: “Shle’muxun.” The fifty or so people in the audience quietly rolled the sound across their tongues, trying it out. A helper took a marker and wrote out the word on butcher paper, checked the spelling with Florence, and posted the

by Radhika Borde What does it mean to have roots? In most cases the metaphor implies a genetic legacy, a cultural inheritance comprising a set of values and beliefs, or a connection with a place that comes from having spent one’s childhood there. In each of these cases there is an assumption that roots are

by Barbara Dovarch . People mapping is a creative and serious game Local knowledge and everyday experience are needed to play There are no losers or winners, but roles and positions There are no leaders or teachers; everyone is both expert and learner There are no hierarchies, the main rule is respect Every voice can

by Barbara Dovarch   . . . . . . . . . . . This photo gallery is an extension of “People Mapping: Visualizing Sense of Place for Decision Making” by Barbara Dovarch. . Back to Vol. 6, Issue 1 | Read the Table of Contents | Like Our Stories? Please Donate!

by Barbara Dovarch   Planning and resource management in urban and rural development often fail to meaningfully engage local inhabitants. That misses two important aspects: firstly, a narrative of places already exists and is embedded in local knowledge; secondly, people are experts on their own living spaces. In addition, spaces and related processes are socially

by Dario Ciccarelli Since January 1, 1995, when the World Trade Organization came into existence, the winds of globalization have picked up the world over, blowing local roofs off. As in the biblical story of the merchants selling in the temple, companies don’t self-regulate—they don’t see any limits to business. As a consequence, a vast

by Graham Richard On August 11, 2015, a Haida-language team set forth from G̱aaw on a three-day journey to survey the north and west coasts of Haida Gwaii (the archipelago off the north coast of British Columbia, Canada that is the Haida people’s homeland). Guided by elders’ teachings, the Haida language, historical records, and century-old maps,

by Jon Corbett, Christine Schreyer, and Nicole Gordon   “Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind, a watershed of thought, an ecosystem of spiritual possibilities.” — Wade Davis, 2005 There is a fundamental and synergistic relationship between language, culture, and biological diversity. Within Canada and around the world, Indigenous communities face the parallel losses of