This is Kwantlen was created on the unceded and traditional territories of Kwantlen/Katzie/Semiahmoo/Matsqui First Nations.
We recognize and value the importance of sharing the complicated history of Canada’s First Nations people and wish to give back in act of truth and reconciliation by honouring the Kwantlen community. Large scale black and white portraits, printed 5 x 8 ft have been installed around the Fort Langley community on exterior walls. Short biographies were written for each of the Kwantlen members who were photographed. This project, inspired by the photographer J.R, is to raise awareness of the community and to honour local Indigenous members.
This is Dennis, but his traditional name is TsaTsomTun. This name was passed down to him by his father, and means Thunder. Thunder is a suitable name for this musically talented, creative man. Dennis is a well-respected member in the Kwantlen community. He is a cultural teacher and also the Keeper of Songs. He grew up singing; a library of music constantly play in his head, from his traditional drum beats to Metallica. Dennis cherishes time and music most greatly among other things. He is a proud father to three boys and two girls, and recently a grandfather! He also runs his own company named Diva Swag, selling his own creations of beaded jewelry and beautiful regalia. With the ambition to construct a better community around him, Dennis lives a full and loving life in the Kwantlen community.
Ariel Day, Jayna Hagen
Simon Tembley, Olivia Kwasnik
Dennis Leon
TsaTsomTun
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Kathy Dickson grew up in South Langley, where she often enjoyed collecting arrowheads as a child. She is a former nursing student who decided to instead take up a career working in forestry, in which she found a deep connection and passion for. Kathy has felt accepted into the Kwantlen community from the minute her husband, Walt Dickson, became an official member after taking 3 years to gain his status, as his mother had lost hers many years ago. They have been married for 54 years with four children, who have all just recently gained their status, and consistently support events that take place in the Kwantlen community.
As a teenager Kathy’s biggest role models were her parents and teachers, and felt to view herself and her whole generation as naive and immature. From this she believes that education of the BC First Nations communities and history in schools to be extremely important and valuable. Kathy is an incredibly caring woman, with a deep love for her family and the Kwantlen community.
“Get an education, no one can take that away from you” - Kathy’s most memorable quote from her father
Paige McLachlan
Nikita Fleck
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Donna Craig is an 83 year old Kwantlen elder who was born in Vancouver. She never knew her parents and never had any brothers or sisters, but her grandfather was a chief on Vancouver Island. Despite this challenging upbringing, Donna says that she experienced a normal life.
In her 20s, she raised her three daughters alone while working for Home Oil, a Canadian home heating and oil company. During this time, she led the first fully female office in the history of the company. Now, Donna enjoys time with her daughters and four grandchildren.
Juan Soto Montemayer
Emily Robinson, Julia Oulton
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“Enjoy life while you’re young, because you’re old for a long time.”
Barrie Brown is a highly respected Elder in the Kwantlen First Nations community. He grew up in Fort Langley, and he has lived here his whole life. Being very familiar with his community, Barrie knows every back road and corner of the town. He has enjoyed travelling, but since he is very connected with his hometown, Barrie prefers not to travel for long periods of time. Fort Langley is where Barrie made several valuable memories. His most treasured memory is the day he and his wife got married.
Barrie is passionate about trap shooting and an avid fisherman. He worked in a shipyard for many years, and also worked in the commercial fishing industry. Even after years of working by the water, Barrie still adores boats and fishing, and his favourite place to be in his community is right near the Fraser River. As a child, Barrie learned a lot from and strongly admired his grandparents. Now, being a grandfather himself, Barrie hopes his own grandchildren will hold him in high regard. Barrie hopes to be remembered in his community as a kind and respected person.
Sophie Holland
Katelyn Lachance
Phyllis Atkins
q̓ʷɑti̓cɑ
Phyllis (Qwoy’tic’a) Atkins, whose name means “I wear the clouds like a blanket” is a member of the Kwantlen indigenous community. She is an extraordinary artist, and a treasured mother of three, a sister, daughter, and friend to many, who welcomes both loved ones and strangers with genuine kindness, warmth, and authenticity.
Phyllis’s preferred medium for her art is oil paint, although she also hand engraves silver and jewelry, and has recently begun creating with acrylic paints. Her artwork is featured on the walls of the Bear Creek Bridge, and the piece is symbolic and honours the Katzie, Kwantlen, and Semiahmoo community, though it is not the first time her artwork has been commissioned by the City of Surrey. Together, Phyllis and her husband own theK’wy’i’y’e Spring Salmon studio, an art studio and home-based business. Phyllis states that she incorporates the seven Kwantlen laws into her artwork, which are health, happiness, generations, generosity, humbleness, forgiveness and understanding. She also works for Pictographic Creative, an indigenous-owned digital outdoor media company.
Phyllis also has a close relationship and deep connection to the river, and a passion for fishing. She considers the river to be her favourite place to visit and has many interesting stories about her experiences, including when Phyllis was out fishing on her new boat for the first time, and her net suddenly sunk out of nowhere; she had believed she lost it, only until she and her family began to pull the net up by hand and realized that in the middle of it lay a 15-18 ft sturgeon (average size is 7-12ft). The sturgeon eventually rolled out of the net and swam away.
She also recounts when her mother, who was nine months pregnant with Phyllis at the time, rebelled against her family’s concerns that she was too far pregnant to go out to fish, and chose to still go out to the river despite their worries. Thus, Phyllis truly has been fishing by the river for her entire life.
Joelene Brewer
Zahra Miremadi
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Karen was born on Vancouver Island, and moved away at age 18 to live on the Kwantlen reservation with her husband. She has one child and five grandchildren. Karen has been passing down her knowledge to the children of the Langley School District for 27 years. She has impacted many young people with her intriguing presentations and plant walks, where she would show the youth how to identify edible and medicinal wild plant-life.
“I’m a plant person,” she says. She has had extensive knowledge of wild plant life since she was very young, which was taught by her parents and siblings. Her favourite wild plants to eat are blackberries, strawberries, and the sprouts from salmon berries.
Katie Pukanich
Channy Lee
Farley Antone
lekeytən
Lekeyten is a respected Kwantlen elder. His name ‘Lekeyten’ has been passed down through his fathers’ family. It means the keeper of the house posts. He feels that he was not yet ready for his name when it was given to him as a young man but since then he has earned and honoured its sacredness and responsibility to his community.
He grew up in his father’s territory, living off and respecting the land with his family. He and some of his sibling even rescued and raised two bear cubs. When he was 18, he moved to Kwantlen, which is his mother’s traditional territory. It was shocking to move to such an urban community.
Lekeyten worked in logging for 19 years and then 18 years with heavy duty machinery to support his family. Serendipitously, he was forced to take a break from work because of some health issues and this led him to reconnect with his culture and land. He travelled with his father, truly claiming and honouring his name, land and culture.
Now Lekeyten is truly in touch with his community and land. He is a deep well of information and knows the history of his people and land. He also knows the injustices of colonization. He has experienced racism in fort Langley, whether it be being refused a job or bullying. He is very passionate and there is no doubt that he will stand up for his people and community.
Lekeyten loves his ten grandchildren very much. “For them we must honour the land,” he said with a grin.
Maya Kostamo
Forest Day
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Natasha wants to be remembered as a good person and a good mom, a good friend and Kwantlen member. She has lived in Fort Langley all her life. She currently works for Seaum Kwantlen Business group, as an accountant for their arts and cultural cafe and coffee shop; When she found out that her photo and other kwantlen members photos would be in Fort Langley, she felt appreciated because this is their land and their home and seeing members of her community being represented in their home is an amazing thing to hear and to see.
Alia Pidgeon
Simran Rai
We have all worked hard as a community to bring back our teachings and celebrate “Our Kwantlen Family.” When we work for our people, we don’t work just for right now, we are taught to work for the betterment of our next seven generations.
Our Kwantlen people are all strong, gifted people, who carry many different gifts to make our community and our territory in areas of Fort Langley, Langley, Surrey, New Westminster, Maple Ridge and Mission a better and more beautiful place.
We all have a role to make our community what it is and something we should continue to be proud of.
Stakwsan
Chief Marilyn Gabriel
Zahra Miremadi
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Brooklyn Janice Craig was born in Vancouver, on August 28th, 1982. She is the grand daughter of a Kwantlen First Nations Chief, Donna Craig. The Kwantlen First Nation identity was a crucial influence to the formation of her character.
As a member of the Kwantlen First Nations, she believes in the Tidalist lifestyle. A core message of her group identity is integrity beyond adversity, like a tidal wave which never stops striking the land. She stands together with the members of the Kwantlen First Nations in the protection of their unprecedented land. She also is an inspiring environmentalist, bringing the Kwantlen legacy to the planet.
Sungwon (Myles) Kim
Oakley Kang, Elise Muller
Richard Pelardo went to a residential school in Mission until his 8th year, when he was allowed to return to his mother. She and his step-father, who worked in a pipe factory, lived in Prince George. Richard lived there until he was a young man, eventually moving to attend BCIT to become a football coach.
Today, he works with many schools in Langley, and teaches children how to bead and weave as he shares stories with them. As well as teaching children, he works on wall hangings for Kwantlen. Teaching them is his passion, and he has been doing it for 16 years. He sees that it is very important to help children receive a good education and realize their talents and abilities. He says it picks him right up on a down day.
Simon Akey
Eliot Enns
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Marlysse Dandurand
Tsa’kwi’ah
Marlysse Dandurand is a member of the Kwantlen First Nation and a grade 10 student at Langley Fine Arts. Her father, Tony, is a writer and caretaker for the Kwantlen longhouse, where Marlysse enjoys spending her time.
Marlysse loves to hang out on the reserve with her friends and going down to the beach on the river. She loves to act, and is excited about her upcoming performance in Macbeth at the Chief Sepass Theatre. She’s not sure what she wants to do in her future just yet, but she knows she wants to hold onto her roots from here and expand her knowledge on where she comes from. Marlysse would like to help educate the next generation, too.
Marlysse Dandurand
Channy Lee
Donna Robins
ʔi:sćəɬɑli
Donna Robins is a respected elder of the Kwantlen community. She was the first member of the district’s Aboriginal Program, and is currently the Aboriginal District Teacher. Education for the current generation is very important to her, expressing that “education is your cuff to a good future, not only encompassing kindergarten to grade twelve, but also post-secondary”. She feels honoured to be a part of this project in welcoming Langley Fine Arts into her community and feels great pride for the Aboriginal program and how strong it has become because of their connections with the Kwantlen, Katzie, and the Matsqui First Nations.
Her close relations consider her as “The Boss” but also a teacher, who they often rely upon for advice and a nudge in the right direction. She thinks she’d be terrible at being a chef considering for all the thirty years she’s been married, her husband has been cooking for her; she often likes to get together with friends and enjoy a night in where their husbands make dinner for them. She wants to master Hanqeminum, a very hard language to speak, and hopes to travel long distances with her husband and their RV.
Little things that make her day better are hugs, seeing her family, and a really good cup of coffee. If everyone was born with a mutual understanding for something, Donna believes it should be respect, in her language it means “cause to have respect” because it has to be earned. She wishes that for everyone, throughout all diverse cultures.
Raven Whitford
Elise Muller
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Deighton Atkins
Pə́pilyʔas
“Do good, Die better. If you are nice to people, then you will have a happy ending.” Deighton is a grade 6 student at Langley Fine Arts School. He has been a student there since grade 1, and is majoring in Art and Drama. Deighton likes to doodle and draw anime. Someday, he would like to be to remembered him as an artistic person.
Deighton likes to play classic video games such as Super Mario Bros, but also has fond memories of making up games with his cousins and brother as a child. One of these games was called Bamboo Tag, where the bamboos were as big as a library and as tall as the shelves. Deighton also loved playing outside, and loves nature.
In the future, Deighton is interested in becoming an Artist, Professional Skater, or perhaps a Biologist, as he likes to discover new creatures and life forms, and loves animals.
Alice Yang
Olivia Kwasnik
Noah Atkins
Ncwaʕ
Noah Atkins is a member of the Kwantlen First Nations community, as well as a student at Langley Fine Arts School. Noah’s family is very well-known in Fort Langley, and Noah has lived here his entire life. His family is very important to him, and they are very close and supportive of one another. He and his cousins share fond and funny memories of playing games outside when they were younger.
Noah is passionate about the arts, and especially likes drama, photography, and film. He also enjoys music and sound mixing, and is trying to broaden his taste in songs. In his spare time, Noah enjoys video games and skateboarding as well.
In the future, Noah is thinking of pursuing business, or teaching English in foreign countries. He wants to be known to his community as a kind and respectful person, as well as someone who was loyal to his family. Noah’s advice to others is not to let others opinions get to them too much, as well as to always be yourself.
Sophie Holland
Olivia Kwasnik
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Wes Antone
X.ex.elles
Wes Antone’s traditional name is X.ex.elles, which holds the meaning “likes to draw”. Wes is from the Kwantlen First Nation, British Columbia. He is a self taught artist, doing everything from drawing and carving, which he has been doing for over 35 years, to mask making and gold/silver jewelry. He grew up on the Chehalis reserve in Harrison Mills, before moving back to the coast. He was a logger for 17 years, then moved on to building trusses, before settling into a career as an archeologist, spanning 20 years. Among his other artistic work, Wes also works with Nation Creation in Chilliwack.
Wes’ character and his experiences an artist, is best described in his own words. "There is always a message my artwork,” Wes explains. “A long time ago, all our artwork was taken away from us. I think that just doing it is a powerful message on it’s own.” What kept him going was his traditional name, and his desire to pass on his knowledge to successive generations. “Every native drawing I do, I put the traditional name beside it. That way, kids will learn something from looking at my designs.” “They learn how to pronounce the names, and get to read what different animals mean to us.” “We all learn from each animal one thing. They all teach us something different.”
Wes has always had a strong belief in his ability as an artist. It can be summarized in the quotes, “Everything I’ve done so far, I’ve always said, if they can do it I can do it.” “I improve every year on something new, or else I’m not going to get nowhere."
Sienna Starnes
Kiana Boyko
Maureen Gabriel
waspetko
Maureen Gabriel has been a mother, sister, daughter, and friend in her community for nearly 60 years. She is 82 years old. She moved into Kwantlen when she was 18 and has fallen in love with the community and the land. The river is a place she has always called home.
Maureen has fished her entire life, and still fishes to this day. In fact, she would ideally like to see her portrait displayed right over the bridge, looking out over the Fraser, or Sto:lo, river. She comes from a family with 8 children, which has a line of chiefs. Her father, Anthony Joe, was chief, and passed the title onto her youngest brother, Percy Joe. She has seen many generations pass on the title.
Maureen is an observant, caring woman, with a love for the land and all of the people on it.
Emma Treleaven
Sephine Lauzé
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Hazel Gludo
qoqwalem oles
Hazel is a respected elder of Kwantlen First Nation. She was born and lived most of her life in Kwantlen and Fort Langley. She is an amazing cedar worker and has been one since 1964, and works as a basket weaver at the Fort Langley Historic Site. As a child, Hazel enjoyed ice fishing and skating on the Fraser River, also known as the Sto:lo River. When asked for Hazel’s words of wisdom, she answered, “Look after yourself, and take good care of your kids. They are like sponges; be a good example for them.”
Lucy Bertram
Meghan Schmidt
Brenda Fernie is an inspirational Kwantlen Economic Developer. She is the sixth generation
from Chief Whattlekainum, who was one of the first aboriginals to meet with Simon Fraser. As it
takes seven generations for change to occur, her children will be the ones to see it.
Brenda feels she has a responsibility to bring awareness to everyone and bring economic
wealth back to the Kwantlen community. Brenda starts each day reading the seven traditional
laws of Kwantlen and practices them throughout her life; health, happiness, generations,
generosity, humbleness, forgiveness and understanding. She feels health is the most important
as she is convinced that only when you are at your maximum health, can you follow the other
laws.
Brenda has an interesting conclusion about oneself that gives a new perspective on the two
sides of a person. One being our soul or spirit which leads us to the path of righteousness and
the other being our ego self which is our greed and what some tend to get caught up in. She
says the more you stay in tuned to your soul the easier it is to follow the seven laws. Brenda
believes it is important that we keep our minds open for new knowledge and when presented
with a bad situation, time will reveal the answer.
Brenda feels we have come a long way with our relations since Chief Whattlekainum, but is
aware that we have a ways to go before we can truly live as one. So for know Brenda will keep
true to the seven traditional laws of Kwantlen and show the rest of the world understanding.
Haley Mills
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Brandon Craig is a respected member of the Kwantlen community. He graduated from Emily Carr University and is currently the manager of a clothing store in Vancouver. He is in the middle of working on a painting series, indulging in drawing in his spare time and experimenting with digital art. As a kid, Brandon grew up playing outside with his sister and listening to his grandmother’s stories; at the time she owned the ESSO gas station in fort langley and he would often walk to the candy store after school. His aunts and uncles would fish for eulachons during hot summers, shake them out of nets and store them in huge warehouses- he thought it was the most disgusting smell and whenever he was in there he was bound to be covered in slimy fish water- though he admits they are his favourite fish to eat in the world.
In the period of his life between high school and post-secondary he was convinced he wanted to pursue acting, but was soon sucked into a whirlwind of fine art that ultimately resulted in him being accepted into Emily Carr University. That same accomplishment and earning his driver’s license remain some of the most memorable events in his life. Brandon likes to think of himself as a person who makes sure his family’s stories and history are being remembered and passed down. He’s known as a caregiver who worries more than he would like to and is often the person his community and family members seek out for advice to aid in their dilemmas; which his solution is almost always a reference to Google. He speculates that he would be terrible at a job where he’d have to sit around and do nothing; staying still is not in his vocabulary and often expresses himself as an extrovert.
He loves classical music and musicals and used to be really into punk rock and 90’s grunge, but he now prefers songs that are personal and tell a story. His hobbies consist of watching CNN (that’s totally a hobby), shopping at thrift stores and rebuilding bikes. The most important aspects of his life right now are finding security in his future with his family and discovering the perfect pizza. If everyone was born with a mutual understanding for something, Brandon believes it should be love.
Raven Whitford
Dahlia Jeong
Amber, a member of the Kwantlen First Nation, is 16-years-old. When she was younger, she moved around a lot from place to place, eventually settling with her grandfather and other family at Kwantlen First Nation. Amber, asked to describe herself, said she is a Goth girl that her culture doesn’t fully approve of, is a unique person, and has gone through more than the average person as she has grown into the person that she is today. Her grandpa is a very influential part of her life. He is her favourite person to talk to and she would love to connect with him even more. Her best friends are Reagan and Jacqueline, who are very important to her and keep her happy. Amber enjoys photography, reading, painting, fishing, and hunting.
Jadyn Anderson
Jake Schmidt
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Cheryl Gabriel
skʷəyətən
Cheryl moved to Fort Langley in 1956. All her life she has spent the majority of her time by the river with her family of 9. As the eldest, Cheryl held many responsibilities. Her father would fish with her brothers while she mainly helped her mother out by making fishing equipment such as nets. On top of this, they also had a dairy farm which was originally owned by her grandfather.
A memory that stood out to Cheryl was in 2014, when her neighbours, a father and son, was out in the river and came across a cradle. The cradle was carbonated and came to the conclusion that it was 13,980 years old. "The river holds so much history," Cheryl mentioned while telling this memory.
Now Cheryl is working in education and works with all ages from elementary to University. Her husband also works with the Elder Residence at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Together, they talk to students about their history and bringing nations together.
Alice Yang
Jocelyn Kim
Walt Dickson is a 74-year-old LSS graduate. Following his graduation, he switched gears to a plumbing apprenticement at a small company in Fort Langley. He continued working in plumbing and heating at a sawmill called McDonald’s Cedar. He worked in this industry for 30 years.
Walt was close with his family growing up, hunting together and biking around town with his older brother and younger sister. They spent a good amount of their free time hunting, fishing, and biking together in Langley. A hunter since the age of 8, Walt likes hunting moose and deer when he isn’t working. He suspects that it is from his First Nations blood that inspires him in this. Walt has seen his fair share of the world, having traveled through Europe and Italy in particular. He took part in western dancing with his wife, ran the Boston marathon, and loves to bowl.
Walt would like to be remembered as a good dad and a kind person. For those in the community reading this, Walt would like to share these words with you: Be kind to everybody.
Vivian Kozak
Asalah Youssef, Vienna Lara-faure
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Michael Kelly-Gabriel is a member and next hereditary chief of the Kwantlen First Nation in Fort Langley. Michael is a relationship builder and a self-proclaimed “gentle soul”. He dedicates his time to his work in youth representation for his own and surrounding communities. He believes everyone has a purpose in the world and his personal philosophy is that you can only “learn with an open heart and an open mind.” His grandmother, Maureen Gabriel, taught him his work ethic, fishing skills, and ways of living.
Michael's favourite place, Kwantlen's longhouse, consists of planks of wood from trees that are still standing, which means the trees from which they took, have plank-sized pieces missing from their sides. These are called culturally modified trees and can still be found in forests today. He was taught that one must only take as much as is needed, and no more.
Sephine Lauzé
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This Is Kwantlen.
