Stand Like a Cedar

Nicola Campbell is the author of Shi-shi-etko, Shin-chi’s Canoe, Grandpa’s Girls, and A Day with Yayah. Nle?kepmx, Syilx, and Métis, from British Columbia, her stories weave cultural and land-based teachings that focus on respect, endurance, healing, and reciprocity.

She has been a finalist for numerous children’s literary awards, and her book Shin-chi’s Canoe won the 2009 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and the 2008 Governor General's Award for Illustration.

Carrielynn Victor is fueled by the passion to tell stories through her art. Her ancestors come from around the world, descending from bloodlines in Scotland, Ireland, and Wales that arrived in the Americas in the 1600s, and Coast Salish ancestors that have been sustained by S’olh Temexw (our land) since time immemorial. Carrielynn was born and raised in S’olh Temexw and nurtured by many parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

Along with a thriving art practice, Carrielynn maintains a communal role as a plant practitioner. The responsibilities for traditional plant practitioners range from protection and preservation of lands to networking and trade to harvest and preparation methods. These understandings are reflected in the artwork and knowledge Carrielynn contributes to her communities. Carrielynn also operates an environmental consultancy, based out of Chilliwack, BC, which reviews and reports on projects with a blended focus, pairing Sto:lo cultural and heritage understanding with ecological knowledge.

Carrielynn’s work speaks to the differences and similarities between ancient and modern understandings. The foundation of an intrinsic connection to the land provides Carrielynn with the understandings and perspectives she utilizes in her Coast Salish art practice. The values found in carrying forward ancestral knowledge and incorporating that knowledge with environmental sciences, as well as the arts, is a lifelong learning journey and a key part of Carrielynn’s working practice.