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If the hurt and grief we carry is a woven blanket, it is time to weave ourselves anew.
In the Nłeʔkepmxcín language, spíləx̣m are remembered stories, often shared over tea in the quiet hours between Elders. Rooted within the British Columbia landscape, and with an almost tactile representation of being on the land and water, Spíləx̣m explores resilience, reconnection, and narrative memory through stories.
Captivating and deeply moving, this story basket of memories tells one Indigenous woman’s journey of overcoming adversity and colonial trauma to find strength through creative works and traditional perspectives of healing, transformation, and resurgence.
This is a terrific tale, peppered with some lovely poetry and deep philosophical convictions: raise your arms in strength and humility. The Nations of British Columbia practise this every day. We commit to strength and humility. We are humble before Star Nations and strong for one another. Nicola Campbell gets this. She is descended from two distinct Indigenous peoples: those that hold their arms and those that serve one another. Nicola braids these two cultures together and bequeaths the result to all of us and to the world. Loaded with history, rich in story, and lovely in its poetics.
Table of Contents
Prairie Letters
- February 4, 1973
- April 5, 1973
- July 1, 1973
- July 26, 1973
Her Blood Is From Sptétkw
- sptétkw
- fried bologna and rice
- yellow house
- Speed Sew
- hamburger stew
- lullabies
- buckle-up shoes
- Little People
- c̓əlc̓ále
- alpine mountains
- frog whisperers
- cousin cluster
Métis
- Saskatchewan
- La Ronge
- Mooshoom
- Back to Batoche, 1985
Nłeʔkepmxcín Lullaby
- skíxzeʔ transforms
- Cəceʔ and Sínciʔ
- Rockstar Hair
- K̓éceʔ Tea
- University of British Columbia
- Blackout
- for the party
- Tmíxw—This Land
- Grandpa’s Corrals
- Learning to Heal
- i am sorry
- it is okay.
- the same as trees
Land Teachings
- Métis
- Beginnings
- Prayer Warriors
- gathering
- gathering songs
- sn’ix’wam
Coming to My Senses
- The land, we are woven together like strands of light
- tmíxw. temexw. temxulaxw.
- Porcupine Song
- snow on the mountains
- Salish Dancer
- The Kingfisher’s Dance
- race day
- quw’utsun
sorrow
- September 16, 1998, 10:15 pm
- deer stew
- i dreamt of you last night
- tracks
- little brown
- September 24, 1998
- October 1, 1999, 10:15 pm
- With Each Stroke of My Paddle
yémit and merímstn
- Teapot Hill
- this trail
- unceded
- Huckleberries Are My Weakness
- medicine song
- pressure canner rhythms
- sx̣wúsm
- Spring Chicken
- going home
- come inside
- wildflowers
- nkéxw
- tmíxw
- A Gathering of Stones
- the riverbed is home
this body is a mountain, this body is the land
- as sisters
- Scw̓éxmx
- May 20, 2000
- Adanac Trail
Resurgence
- The Trail
- Stories Are Alive
- Why Am I Writing This?
- Run
- I Believe in the Power of Prayer
- We Are Their Prayers Come to Life
- Reweave the Universe
- Offering
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Index