həm̓ləsəm̓ and q̓ələχən House Films Released!

The films həm̓ləsəm̓ House at UBC and q̓ələχən House at UBC are part of a series being developed at Aboriginal Initiatives in UBC’s Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) to educate UBC students, faculty, and staff about the eight house names in use at Totem Park Residence. This residence is a first-year dormitory that houses nearly 2000 students.

The original six names chosen during the 1960’s without community consultation – Nootka, Dene, Haida, Salish, Kwakiutl and Shuwap – were intended to honour local BC First Nations. However, these names, along with intellectual property of the communities they represent, have long been misused, misrepresented, and appropriated due to a lack of context and education provided about them. Many of these names are also misnomers.

The newest houses, həm̓ləsəm̓ and q̓ələχən, carry hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ place names significant to Musqueam. They teach us all important parts of BC and Canadian history. In 2011 they were named by a community-based committee consisting of Totem Park residents, Musqueam cultural advisors, and representatives from Student Housing and Hospitality Services, First Nations House of Learning, and Campus and Community Planning. Its primary mandate was to recommend names for the new houses at Totem Park that were meaningful to students, and respectful to the Musqueam Nation whose unceded territory UBC occupies.

This work is a continuation of the initiative Decolonizing Knowledge, a project founded in 2010 by First Nations Studies Program alumni Sarah Ling and Spencer Lindsay to respond to instances of cultural misrepresentation and appropriation at Totem Park Residence with the advancement of educational resource development and community dialogue and consultation. Ling and Lindsay led the naming process for the həm̓ləsəm̓ and q̓ələχən Houses. To learn more about the development and purpose of this film series, read this article: “Truth and Reconciliation at UBC: Confronting Our Legacies”.

At Aboriginal Initiatives we are developing user guides to accompany these films to support classroom curricula, student and staff orientations, and campus operations. Stay tuned for updates! Here are the film links and related resources:

həm̓ləsəm̓ House Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCjilM2M9Ho

q̓ələχən House Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkZHThNM8Cc

Musqueam Nation: www.musqueam.bc.ca

UBC CTLT Aboriginal Initiatives: http://ctlt.ubc.ca/programs/aboriginal-initiatives

Decolonizing Knowledge: www.facebook.com/DKUBC

Indigenous Foundations: http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca

This article was published in the March 2014 CTLT Newsletter, Dialogues. Below is a list of articles included in the issue:

Find out more about the CTLT Newsletter, Dialogues.