In my coaching, facilitation, and engagement practice I host community and organizational conversations. When we listen to people’s experiences deeply with an open mind, open heart, we hear insights for our team and life. When we lean in, often with uncertainty, we can strengthen relationships, build trust, break down silos, and pull together towards a more complete, inclusive understanding of each other's experience in work, friendship, love, community connection and belonging.

Recently I was reminded of several stories that were woven together by common threads. One was a story my father told me about the Oolichan that would arrive at night with the full moon in the thousands on the shores of the lower Fraser in the 1930s and early 1940s in February and March. He would go with friends and cook them over a fire. He used to say they tasted like sardines, a bit greasy, and salty. At the time, as a child of settler parents, I was not aware of the cultural significance of Indigenous teachings, only that it was a food source and part of a long-lost trading route that crossed North America.

For those on the journey to understand meaningful reconciliation and engagement this free resource is an opportunity to listen to insights such as this:

“These teachings and creation stories show the next generation how to live, share and maya’xala (treat others and things the way you want to be treated [respect]) all things. In Indigenous cultures, teaching every generation is illustrated in stories, songs and ceremonies. Each listener takes away the teachings and meanings from the stories and songs, and uses the principles to help them in their own lives.”

Source: Nalaga Donna Cranmer, “Dzaxwan (Oolichan Fish): Stories My Elders told Me,” in Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science, eds. Gloria Snively and Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams (Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, 2026), https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/knowinghome/

Last changed: 26/02/2024 at 11:26