A Transboundary Book Tour and Celebration in Southeastern BC and northeastern Washington
Join Shelly Boyd, Snayackstx (Sinixt) Cultural Facilitator; LaRae Wiley, Founder of the Salish School of Spokane/Sinixt knowledge-keeper; Dr. Laurie Arnold (Sinixt historian and professor at Gonzaga University), LaDonna Boyd and author Eileen Delehanty Pearkes – for lively readings and discussion, celebrating the 20th-anniversary edition of The Geography of Memory. See the schedule below for details on events in your community, free and open to all.
This updated and greatly expanded cultural history from Rocky Mountain Books includes the voices of many contemporary Sinixt people; numerous maps/illustrations/photographs; an inside view of the 2021 landmark Supreme Court of Canada decision, R. v. Desautel; and new details about the tribal effort to re-introduce ocean salmon to the upper Columbia River and its tributaries.
The book charts a hopeful, positive path as the formerly “extinct” tribe embarks on reclaiming its natural and spiritual history in Canada. In characteristically gracious prose, Pearkes identifies the enduring human qualities of persistence, healing and renewal in this important story, carving a path of truth across the region’s complex, transboundary landscape.
Tour Dates
Events are free and open to all
Oct. 20 – Revelstoke Museum, Revelstoke, BC at 7 p.m.
Featuring a reading by contributor Dr. Laurie Arnold, Native American Studies, Gonzaga University
Oct. 21 – Revelstoke Performing Arts Theatre, Revelstoke, BC at 9:00 a.m.
Keynote address at C2C provincial Education Conference
Readings and song in Sinixt Language by Sinixt students from the Salish School of Spokane
Oct. 23 – Yasodhara Ashram , Kootenay Bay at 1:30 p.m.
Reading and discussion featuring contributors Shelly Boyd & LaRae Wiley
Oct. 24 – Capitol Theatre, Nelson, BC at 7 p.m.
Premier screening of 2 films: “Sinixt Ceremony & Celebration” by Carlos Alcos) and “Washed Away”
by Agathe Bernard
Readings from contributor LaRae Wiley and Eileen Delehanty Pearkes
Oct 25 – Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery (formerly Touchstones), Nelson, BC at 7 p.m.
Community Conversation: “Watershed Reflections: the Ecology and Culture of Place”
Shelly Boyd, Jan Inglis, Lesley Garlow and Eileen Delehanty Pearkes
Oct. 26 – MIR center for Peace/Selkirk College, Castlegar, BC at 2 p.m.
Student discussion
Oct 25 – Bailey Theatre (The Griff), Trail at 7:30 p.m.
Screening of two films: “Sinixt Ceremony & Celebration” by Carlos Alcos) and “Washed Away”
by Agathe Bernard
Readings from contributor LaRae Wiley and Eileen Delehanty Pearkes
Oct. 27 – Grand Forks Gallery, Grand Forks, BC at 1 p.m.
Reading & discussion Shelly Boyd and Eileen Delehanty Pearkes
Oct. 28 – Inchelium Language and Cultural Center, Inchelium, WA
Sinixt Home community celebration
Oct. 29 – Gonzaga University Performing Arts Center, Spokane, WA at 6 p.m.
“Sinixt Confederacy : Rights, People, Stories” Screening of “Older than the Crown” by Sinixt filmmaker Derrick J. LaMere