7449 West Saanich Road, Brentwood Bay, BC, Canada

Kevin Monkman Today

I have had the privilege of working for the WSANEC school board, in W̱JOȽEȽP, for the past thirteen years.  I work at the Saanich Adult Education Center, educational home to the four SENCOTEN speaking WSANEC communities,W̱JOȽEȽP, BOKECN, SȾÁUTW̱, and TSEYCUM.  Working with the WSANEC people for so long has had a profound impact on the way I view the world.  I see the way the four communities come together to serve their youth, how they prioritize language and culture in order to reconnect to their past, and how they work to live in harmony with their beautiful natural territory.  My time here has taught me to recognize how connected I am to my place or work, my home, my family, and the Salish Sea, and that I am not separate part of these things, but rather, I am simultaneously affected and influenced by them as I affect and influence them.

HISWKE HALE