Say the Names: 2015

Say the Names...

Al Purdy wrote a wonderful poem called "Say the names say the names" which celebrates the names of Canadian rivers - Tulameen, Kleena Kleene, Similkameen, Nahanni, Kluane and on and on in a celebratory song.

Enbridge is planning to build a dual pipeline that will carry bitumen and condensate across hundreds of waterways between Edmonton and Kitimat. Some of these waterways are rivers like the Parsnip (or what's left of it), the Nechako, the Morice and others are smaller creeks whose names are often known only to the folks who live along their banks or who fish in their shadows or who bend to wash or drink as they cross paths.

I want to collect the names of these rivers and creeks, to collect your stories, your poems, your songs so we can collectively give voice to the land living under the line Enbridge plans to draw.

People have also sent me copies of their presentations to the community oral presentations. If you'd like to add your voice, email me (sheila.peters900@gmail.com) your stories and I'll post them for you. The copyright remains with you.

All the best.
Sheila Peters

Thursday, June 4, 2015

We're still here...

To "celebrate" the anniversary of the Joint Review Panel's decision to give permission to Enbridge to proceed with its plans to build the Northern Gateway pipelines, Friends of Morice-Bulkley and the Wet'suwet'en chiefs are hosting an event to celebrate healthy rivers and wild salmon and to send out a friendly reminder that the opposition has not gone away. Saturday, June 13, 2015 from 12 - 2 in Bovill Square in Smithers.

Smithers, BC: Pure Water, Wild Salmon; BBQ & Music!

Plus, if you enjoyed Jennifer Skin Wickham's poem in an earlier posting, you might want to check out the interview I did with her on my Smithers Community Radio show In the Shadow of the Mountain about a month ago.