The Water We Call Home:
Indigenous women’s connections to fish, water, and family around the Salish Sea

Between 2020-2022, an advisory circle of six Indigenous women gathered on Galiano Island to re-presence connections to fish, water, and family around the Salish Sea. This work was witnessed by an extended group of family, friends, and people living and working on Galiano and documented in video, sound, and photography.

This project has been brought across the water to Steveston (Summer 2023-25) to share these personal stories of loss, resistance, and reconnection, and the importance of holding onto those stories in the face of colonial fishing policies that continue to separate Indigenous peoples from fish and fishing. 

The project and exhibition are the continuation of a lifetime of research by Coast Salish / Sahtu Dene artist Rosemary Georgeson and emerges from her decade-long collaboration with Dr. Jessica Hallenbeck. This work has led to the recovery of the identities of Rosemary Georgeson’s ancestral grandmothers and reconnection with their descendants. 

Works in sound, video, and photography by Richard Wilson, Rosemary Georgeson, Kali Spitzer, and partners, along with archival photos and newsletters, honour the stories of connection through water, fish, and family. 

This installation is curated by Rosemary Georgeson, Kate Hennessy, and Jessica Hallenbeck.

“This scrapbook “The Water We Call Home: A Collection of Connection and Disconnection” is sharing a glimpse into the history of the imposed disconnection to our waters and way of life on the water. The Native Voice Newsletter, the Native Alliance of Red Power (NARP) Newsletter, and events in the news today all show a long history of Indigenous resistance to imposed colonial fishing policies”. - Rosemary Georgeson, co-curator

The Gulf of Georgia Cannery Society honours the importance of Canada’s West Coast fishing history by sharing stories of the fishing industry and fishing communities through exhibitions, collections, and programs, and events.
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