VYPER – Visionary Youth Peers for Equity and Revitalization
In 2022 I had the privilege to become a member of VYPER, a youth-led organization aimed at indigenous cultural revitalization and equity. I identify as part aboriginal, and my indigenous ancestors come from the Huron-Wendat nation in Quebec. My roles at VYPER are to help organize and emcee weekly Powwow / Cultural Nights that we put on for the community, and to organize and host our VYPERCast radio show on CIVL Radio.
I am also taking Halq’emeylem classes at the University of the Fraser Valley. I want to learn the language for a variety of reasons, one of them being so that I can incorporate aspects of Stó:lō culture into my work life. I hope that one day when I work for an airline, I can welcome people to the West Coast in Halq’emeylem over the airplane’s intercom, as it is the Ancestral Language of the inhabitants of the land since time immemorial.
