Vancouver Heritage Foundation and Places That Matter aim to put on two Storytelling events per year. These events act as both fundraiser and opportunity to amplify the vital stories of the people and places that have shaped Vancouver, past and present.
During the 2023 Places That Matter Community Celebration, Militant Mothers of Raymur representatives and Japanese elders generously told us their first hand experiences. Please visit the Militant Mothers and Hastings Park PTM site pages to learn more.
We were also joined by City of Vancouver Poet Laureate (2022 – 2024), Fiona Tinwei Lam, sharing about her City Poems Project and author Aaron Chapman.
To learn more about our Heritage week programming please visit PTM’s Community Celebration page or VHF’s Heritage Week page.
The presentation featured the story of how the Henry Hudson Elementary school house was saved from demolition and donated to the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation for their Language Nest, an early years education center for Squamish language.
VHF raises our hands to our keynote speakers Samaya Jarday, Director of Ta na wa Ns7éyx̱nitm ta Snew̓íyelh (Language & Cultural Affairs) and Kaiya Williams, Head Teacher at Ta Tsíptspi7lhḵn for sharing their remarkable work. By experiencing language immersion in a home like setting, the 20+ babies who frequent the Nest with their families are on track to become the first mother-tongue speakers of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim in 90 years.
We were also joined by Johnathon Strebly of Renewal Development and Cassidy vander Ros of Nickel Bros who were supporting speakers , sharing their perspectives on built heritage conservation and the logistics of moving the yellow school house over land and water to the North Shore.
Do you have a story to share? Questions? Corrections? Please note that your submission may be used in an edited form in the "Community Stories" section. Thank you!
