John Harris is an Indigenous Educator from Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo) First Nation, working in the Greater Victoria School District's Indigenous Education Department as the Elders and Indigenous Knowledge Facilitator, on UVic's Living Lab Project steering committee, and as a program coordinator / facilitator. He is grateful for the privilege of living, working, and playing in the traditional territory of the (Lekwungen) Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, and passionate about weaving local Indigenous perspectives and knowledge into teaching and learning opportunities for youth. As an educator, John has found that incredibly profound learning occurs at the intersection between traditional ecological knowledge of local First Peoples, land-based experiential teaching, and an individual and collective openness to embrace Uy’skwuluwun (a good mind and a good heart) when doing this work.

Huy ch q‛u Siem

’Uy’ skweyul,

Frankie Taylor is a Songhees First Nation, and Musgamawg dzawada’enuxw youth currently working in the Greater Victoria area. She is on the University of Victoria’s Living Lab youth team assisting with various projects for Regional First Nation Youth. She is very grateful to be living on her family’s traditional territory of the (Lekwungen) Songhees First Nation. Frankie believes that our First Nation youth hold a very significant part in claiming our territories, and bringing our culture back through land-based and traditional teachings.

Huy ch q‛u Siem