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Wednesday, October 16, 2024

xʷməm̓qʷe:m Camosun bog

  Take a look at  my  BOG PRESENTATION 

Camosun Bog Restoration Group method for bog restoration:  Watch this video. The teens in this video are my students when I taught at PW.  They learned their plantae unit by joining a work party!  You can also read about the history of camosun bog restoration here.



Why  xʷməm̓qʷe:m, Camosun bog , is important: Listen to  Elder Larry Grant talk about  xʷməm̓qʷe:m.  By the way, Elder, Larry Grant's parents are Musqeuam and  Chinese.  In addition to being a speaker of the Musqueam language, he understands and speaks Cantonese.




Watch Elder Larry Grant's personal story:  He is a language keeper of the Musqueam People.
Watch the creation story of the Musqueam people . Their story begins  in Camosun bog.
The double headed serpent story 
This is a pole carved by a Musqueam artist and related to the fourth video above.  It is  located in UBC and this is what it means 


Transcript of Elder Larry Grant video:


The bog is an integral part of Musqueam. In Musqueam history and the story of Musqueam. So that real connection. When that bog, it’s quite a few things actually when the bog shrinks, that means that people have drained the bog. For urbanization and use of land, removing what western culture called unusable land or unusable space, for I would say non cultural well, to us, non-cultural activity to the Musqueam people. Why would you drain a bog, it carries so much life, if it’s drained it’s allowed to shrink even more. That actually erases all the corroborating evidence of the story of Musqueam and it’s eradicating cultural identity, Aboriginal identity, it’s eradicating Aboriginal identity, in that sense where it removes all traces of any of the stories that we will be able to tell or we can still tell the story, but we won’t be able to say that this is where it originates. And if it’s completely drained, that’s just another step in removing all traces of First Nations People. I would like to see it grow actually but that takes a lot of effort, I would like to see it open up a little more and all those Indigenous plants that are there, allowed to expand a bit because then it becomes a teaching tool for all people. About the value of the bog, the biodiversity that’s in there is amazing, yeah, and it’s set up where people can walk though there and have a look and get very close to all the plants and the mallard ducks are still there. They sit in that center pond and just live be around up there and actually be part of the story of Musqueam. There is a mallard duck in there, there’s actually a little family of mallard ducks in there so. 


BIOLOGY ASSIGNMENT 
DRAW a hand drawn cartoon summary of the  videos which you see above as well as the meaning of the pole above.  You should  make at least three pages, one for each video.  In your assignment, try to write in musqueam!  Tell the story of Elder Larry Grant too, who is a Musqueam Elder (and a Musqueam-Chinese Canadian)
OR 
WRITE an illustrated essay using photos like screen captures of the videos and illustrate your essay with photos.  Remember that if you use a phrase from a source, to use quotations and cite the source. 


EVALUATION 
60 -  your work is outstanding and excellent. It looks amazing and stands out. 
50-55 - your work is excellent showing attention to detail.  You summarize the key points and you don't miss anything.  Your drawings tell the story of the videos and links.  Your writing summarizes the key points in an engaging writing style. You cite your sources and also you have posted your work on your blog, which you send to me. You show creativity.
40. your work shows a high standard of quality. your drawings are beautiful or your writing is excellent and engaging to the reader.  You show creativity. you could have included a few more details or you did not cite your sources. You uploaded and handed this in on your blog.
30 - You have a good start