There will be noise in the Main Hall throughout March due to seismic upgrade work on the Mezzanine level. 
Reconciliation
On this page, you’ll learn more about our commitment to reconciliation, which was named as a priority in our Strategic Framework in 2021.
Our commitment
As a public institution that supports learning for adults and youth in our community, our Library has an important role to play in reconciliation. The Library recognizes that working towards meaningful reconciliation is an ongoing practice that will shape our community for generations to come.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission includes libraries in Call to Action 57:
“We call upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to provide education to public servants on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.“
At the September 20, 2017 Library Board Meeting, the Trustees approved a motion:
“That the WVML Board support the use of the Territorial Acknowledgement as presented…” to be spoken at the beginning of large gatherings.
That fall, Library staff met Chris Lewis, former Squamish Nation Band Councillor and current Director of Indigenous Initiatives and Reconciliation at SFU, for his support.
“Advancing Indigeneity is a collective and shared responsibility… I use a canoe metaphor often. We’re all in the canoe. Everyone needs to get into the canoe, and everyone needs to paddle. There are no passengers in this work—we need the whole community to come together to illuminate the truth of our history and truly create a place of belonging in the canoe so we can start the journey of Reconciliation.” — Chris Lewis
Highlighted programs
2024
- Staff attend a half-day workshop on Indigenous Allyship and Anti-Racism with Len Pierre, a Coast Salish educator from Katzie First Nation
- The Library exhibits a touring replica of Carey Newman’s Witness Blanket
- Library staff host a pop-up library at the Squamish Nation Youth Powwow
- Youth Department hosts several pop-up libraries for Xwemélch’stn Etsimxwawtxw / Capilano Little Ones students over the summer
- Library staff partnered with Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim speaker and knowledge keeper Tsitsáyxemaat Rebecca Duncan to develop the Skw’shítsut/Skw’shétsut – Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim Language Kits
- Launch of Jody Wilson-Raybould’s newest book, Reconciling History, with Roshan Danesh
2023
- Indigenous Storytelling by Ta Síiy̓uxwa tl’a Sḵwx̱wú7meshulh (The Elders of the Squamish People) continues with in-person sessions at the Squamish Nations Elder’s Centres in Squamish and North Vancouver and the Squamish Public Library
- WVML hosts a professional development day for colleagues at other North Shore, Sea-to-Sky, and Lower Mainland libraries with Ta7talíya Michelle Nahanee
- An Evening with Angela Sterritt hosted by Candis Callison
- The Fire Still Burns: An Evening with Squamish Elder Sam George presented in partnership with North Vancouver City Library and North Vancouver District Public Library
- Staff partner with Xwemélch’stn Etsimxwawtxw / Capilano Little Ones school to offer library visits
- Xwemélch’stn Etsimxwawtxw / Capilano Little Ones teacher Tsitsáyxemaat Rebecca Duncan and her students came to do the inaugural recording in the Library’s Recording Studio to record the Squamish names of the plants in our native plant garden
2022
- Indigenous Storytelling by Ta Síiy̓uxwa tl’a Sḵwx̱wú7meshulh (The Elders of the Squamish People) continues at the Library, including a special session for West Vancouver students, and expand to the Squamish Nation’s Elder’s Centres in Squamish and North Vancouver and to the Squamish Public Library
- WVML hosts our first-ever Climate Writer in Residence, Katłı̨̀ą, a Northern Dene novelist from the Yellowknives Dene First Nation
- An Evening with Jody Wilson-Raybould in Conversation with Angela Sterritt
- Chepx̱imiya Siyam’ Chief Janice George honours the Library’s community demonstration garden with a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim name: Swáy̓wi Temíxw
- Library staff partner with ethnobotanist and Squamish Nation member Char Seward to plant a native plant food forest in the garden
2021
- For National Indigenous History Month, the Library launches a special edition of our COVID-era Dial-a-Story series: Indigenous Storytelling by Ta Síiy̓uxwa tl’a Sḵwx̱wú7meshulh (The Elders of the Squamish People)
- In consultation with cultural advisor Chepx̱imiya Siyam’ / Chief Janice George, WVML remains opened for the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation to offer programming and learning resources for the community, including a storytelling and crafting session for kids with Lisa Lewis, the Squamish Nation author of Tsunaxen’s Journey
2020
- An Evening with Bob Joseph (author of 21 Things You Might Not Know about the Indian Act), presented in partnership with North Vancouver City Library and North Vancouver District Public Library
2019
- The art piece Sch’etxw tl’a snewíyelh: Kwu7s iy S7áynixw / Panel of Knowledge: Tyee Salmon and Eulachon by Halikium/Wade Baker is commissioned and installed, funded by the Friends of the Library
- The Library moves beyond our suite of programming by making an effort to weave Indigenous authors and creators into our existing library programs, such as the North Shore Writers Festival, headlined by Monique Gray Smith
- WVML’s Collections department undertakes a project to reclassify the Dewey Decimal numbers of Indigenous books based on their subject matter, when previously they were categorized as “history” only
- The Youth and Collections departments develop a new Indigenous Traditional Stories collection, comprised of titles previously catalogued using outdated, inaccurate, and insensitive language
2018
- Chepx̱imiya Siyam’ / Chief Janice George (Squamish Nation) becomes WVML’s cultural advisor
- Guided canoe paddle on the waters around Ch’tl’am (Ambleside) in partnership with the West Vancouver Police and with participation from members of the Squamish Nation, including Chepx̱imiya Siyam’ / Chief Janice George and Chiaxst’n Wes Nahanee
- Squamish Nation ethnobotanist Styawat Leigh Joseph holds programs on coastal Indigenous plants
- Reading Circles: Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese and The Reason You Walk by Wab Kinew
2017
- Reading Circles: They Called Me Number One by Bev Sellars
- Panel discussion with Bev Sellars, Lynne Tomlinson (West Vancouver Schools), Chris Lewis (Squamish Nation), and Charlene Seward (Reconciliation Canada)
- Staff are invited to join West Vancouver Police colleagues on a paddle with Squamish Nation member Chiaxst’n Wes Nahanee, the skipper of Chi’ch’iyúy
Image credit: Carved by Coast Salish artist Luke Marston, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Bentwood Box is a lasting tribute to all Indian Residential School Survivors. The carved panels represent the unique cultures of former First Nations, Inuit and Métis students. Used with permission.
About Cultural Advisor Chepx̱imiya Siyam’ Chief Janice George
Chepximiya Siyam’ Chief Janice George is an hereditary chief of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw. She is an acclaimed weaver, educator, and trained museum curator. George is the co-founder of the L’hen Awtxw Weaving House and the co-author of Salish Blankets: Robes of Protection and Transformation, Symbols of Wealth. Don’t miss her TedxWhistler talk, The Spirit Moves Like a Storm.