Lekwungen: Place to Smoke Herring

A film by Brianna Bear and Eli Hirtle.

Our film, Lekwungen: Place to Smoke Herring, was collaboratively created in order to share a brief history and overview of the Lekwungen territory; the land we work, live and play on. We want to centre the Indigenous knowledge of, connections to, and responsibility for these lands. Our hope is that this film will help people gain a deeper understanding of and respect for the culture, language, traditions and history of this territory, which have been nearly erased and under attack in many ways since first contact with Europeans, and subsequent settlement of this area.

To show how the territory and people of this land are still thriving, we interviewed Songhees community members Cheryl Bryce, Joan Morris, and Skip, Butch and Bradley Dick, so they could share their knowledge, stories, and teachings about the lands and waters, which are now known by its colonial name, Victoria. As Butch Dick says in the film, “The most important thing you can do is learn as much as you can about Lekwungen people, because this is our land.” _Brianna Bear and Eli Hirtle.