Xwelíqwiya: The Life of a Stó:lō Matriarch

Description

Xwelíqwiya is the life story of Rena Point Bolton, a Stó:lō matriarch, artist, and craftswoman. Proceeding by way of conversational vignettes, the beginning chapters recount Point Bolton's early years on the banks of the Fraser River during the Depression. While at the time the Stó:lō, or Xwélmexw, as they call themselves today, kept secret their ways of life to avoid persecution by the Canadian government, Point Bolton’s mother and grandmother schooled her in the skills needed for living from what the land provides, as well as in the craftwork and songs of her people, passing on a duty to keep these practices alive. Point Bolton was taken to a residential school for the next several years and would go on to marry and raise ten children, but her childhood training ultimately set the stage for her roles as a teacher and activist. Recognizing the urgent need to forge a sense of cultural continuity among the younger members of her community, Point Bolton visited many communities and worked with federal, provincial, and First Nations politicians to help break the intercultural silence by reviving knowledge of and interest in Aboriginal art. She did so with the deft and heartfelt use of both her voice and her hands. Over the course of many years, Daly collaborated with Point Bolton to pen her story. At once a memoir, an oral history, and an “insider” ethnography directed and presented by the subject herself, the result attests both to Daly’s relationship with the family and to Point Bolton’s desire to inspire others to use traditional knowledge and experience to build their own distinctive, successful, and creative lives. Front Matter......Page 1 Table of Contents......Page 5 List of Illustrations......Page 7 Foreword......Page 9 Acknowledgements......Page 11 Map of Northern British Columbia......Page 14 Map of Xwélmexw (Stó:lō) territory and nearby Coast Salish areas......Page 15 Introduction......Page 17 Xwelíqwiya......Page 55 Born at a Very Young Age......Page 57 First Memories......Page 59 My Father and My Brother......Page 64 Hiding from Destiny......Page 68 Semá:th Lake......Page 73 Xéyteleq......Page 79 Chu’chelángen......Page 82 Xéyteleq’s Story......Page 86 After Xéyteleq: Family Ties......Page 95 More Family Ties......Page 100 Devil’s Run......Page 105 Peter “Speedy” Bolan......Page 115 Charlie Gardner......Page 120 Coqualeetza......Page 123 Home for Summer......Page 129 Uncle Ambrose and Auntie Jean......Page 133 Canneries......Page 134 Marriage and Family......Page 138 Child Rearing......Page 140 Canoe Racing......Page 151 Lehál......Page 153 Syúwel......Page 157 Mí’lha......Page 160 Spirit Guides......Page 165 A Personal Experience......Page 167 Sxwóyxwey......Page 169 Responsibility for the Masks......Page 178 Passing on Sxwóyxwey......Page 182 Burnings......Page 185 Weaving My Way into Political Life......Page 187 Indian Homemakers......Page 192 Alliances......Page 201 Oliver Wells......Page 205 Revivals......Page 208 Meeting Other Activists......Page 211 Moving North......Page 219 Promoting Native Arts and Crafts......Page 220 The North: New Threads......Page 227 Life with Cliff......Page 230 Baskets and Textiles......Page 238 Rewards......Page 253 Children of Mother Earth......Page 256 Xwelíqweltel and the Queen......Page 261 Still a Long Way to Go......Page 266 When We Come Back......Page 271 Water and the Cycle of Life......Page 275 For the Young......Page 277 Epilogue......Page 281 Family Trees......Page 285 A. Rena’s family through her mother’s second marriage......Page 286 B. Rena’s maternal grandmother’s family......Page 288 C. Rena’s maternal grandfather’s family......Page 290 D. Rena’s father’s family......Page 291 Pronunciation Guide......Page 293 Glossary......Page 297 Works Cited......Page 301 Index......Page 307