Pictured above: Madeline, Kate, Saber, Stephen, Madilyn, Bonnie, Jochelle and Jesse work together as just 9 paddlers to move the long canoe

The Tl'Ches Spirit Canoe

by Kate Cruz and Shaylin Warren

Some things are worth waiting for.

The canoe has been with IED 403 since before we even got in one. From the very beginning of the term, we were asking our students to sit with hard questions such as whose knowledge gets celebrated and elevated in science education? Whose ways of observing the world show up in curricula, and whose get quietly left out? Indigenous canoes such as the Tl'Ches Spirit canoe, don't move through individual effort. It moves when people pay attention to the whole and not just their own stroke.

Shaylin Warren had originally coordinated our outing on the Tl'Ches Spirit, but when the weather forecast turned uncertain, we made the call to reschedule. That decision was its own lesson that incorporated the Outdoor Council of Canada (OCC) field course teachings that good outdoor leadership means reading conditions honestly and sometimes choosing to wait.

The rescheduled date landed on April 29th, after the term officially ended and the students who arrived to journey together did so on their own time.

Heinz (now retired and serving in the reserves) and Jesse, a West Shore RCMP officer from the Indigenous Policing Unit who works directly with the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations, met our small group. They both clearly love sharing the canoe experience and teachings and being on the water as much as possible.

The Tl'Ches Spirit Canoe was created as a method to engage and connect with youth through outdoor activities. The officers share paddling instruction, but also respect a commitment to pass on the cultural teachings associated to the canoe’s name, artwork and the connections to the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. Tl'Ches is the Lekwungen word for "island," specifically Chatham Island, as Songhees land. The 35-foot canoe carries traditional Indigenous artwork, including a stqéyə (wolf) at the bow.

The Tl'Ches Spirit can carry up to 22 paddlers and is available to educators and students (Grade 4 and up) for professional development, educational, and healing purposes. Preceding our time together on the canoe, students explored an integrated math and science unit aroud ratio, capacity, and oral histories. Ethnomathematics and Indigenous science leans into the knowledge systems present in local waterways and ways of knowing. Paddling the Tl'Ches Spirit made that visceral in a way a lesson plan simply cannot.

If you're interested in bringing this to your students, connect with Jesse to learn more. Click on Tl'Ches Spirit Canoe Program link below to watch video of the program and intent. 

Tl'Ches Spirit Canoe Program

1st photo: The Tl'Ches Spirit Canoe awaits paddlers at Skosappson (Kosampson). 2nd photo: Madeline and Heinz set the pace for our journey at the bow of the canoe.

Pictured above: L - R, back row: ŦIWONEMOT, TOLISIYE, Brock Flowers, SGaan James McGuire (Haida, Director of Indigenous Collections & Repatriation, Royal BC Museum), Tamis Cochrane (Taku River Tlingit First Nation), TSEHLAUGHTENAUT, YÁYELMEW̱, Darian Claxton, Sarah Jim; L - R, front row: Sieey'laat, Dr. Darcy Mathews (Professor, UVic Environmental Studies), Ben Louter (PhD student, UVic Archaeology), ĆIEMĆES, HOWELȻ, ȻELOȽ.

Learning from Living Landscape

Yesterday’s walk and talk with the ḰȽO,EL was a memorable and thought-provoking learning experience. HÍSW̱ḴE to the DILR IED 299: W̱SÁNEĆ & Neighbours: Cultural Materials students who joined and helped make it such an engaging afternoon.

Guided by Dr. Darcy Mathews, we explored ancestral village sites near Uplands Park—once home to thriving communities who fished, hunted, and harvested across these lands. Features like ḰȽO,EL and KEX̱MIN beds highlight how these are not just archaeological sites, but living cultural landscapes. As SGaan Kwahagang James D. McGuire reminded us, places like camas fields carry an ongoing responsibility to remember and care for.

We also reflected on present-day challenges, including how rising sea levels are submerging significant archaeological sites—an issue that connects to next month’s Oceans Past XI conference. Talks from Tamis Cochrane and Ben Louter emphasized the value of community-led archaeology, showing how research can support cultural and language revitalization. Their example of multiple words for “scraper” in the Taku Nation’s language underscored how deeply language informs archaeological understanding.

Overall, the afternoon was a powerful reminder that archaeology is as much about living knowledge and relationships as it is about the past.

Tłı̨chǫ Language Immersion Workshop

In May 2026, the Tłı̨chǫ Government Department of Culture and Lands Protection – Language Division hosted a two-day Tłı̨chǫ Language Immersion Workshop in Behchokǫ̀, bringing together educators, language learners, Elders, and community members to strengthen language revitalization efforts. Facilitated by Dr. Belinda Daniels, the workshop focused on building practical skills and shared approaches for immersion-based teaching and learning, supporting the continued growth of Tłı̨chǫ Yatıì in schools and communities.