By Deborah Greaves April 2006
Two Remarkable Women, One Very Special Friendship.
Gayle Liman - Curator of Education for the Kelowna Museum
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One was born and raised here in the Okanagan, and lived here among friends and family her whole life. The other, originally from Ontario, lived in the US for decades before she and her family took a leap of faith to move to the Valley.
The friendship of Roxanne Lindley of Westbank First Nation and Gayle Liman, now Curator of Education for the Kelowna Museum, grew over growing things. Specifically, it was organic growing things that led Gayle onto Roxanne’s family land, and it was Roxanne’s garden that sparked great ideas as well as friendship.
“I’d been driving past a funky sign that said, “ Spray-free vegetables” every day for ages,” Gayle says, “ and I’d always wondered. I kept driving by, curious. One day, I was coming back from Kelowna with my daughter and I whipped around the corner. I had to check it out.”
Gayle drove onto Roxanne’s property, where Roxanne herself happened to be sitting on the porch. There was, as Gayle recalls, “an immediate rapport.”
Endangered Plants
There were many reasons these women should become friends. Gayle is an artist and weaver who in 1987 completed a massive, ten foot-tall woven tapestry created in tribute to the threatened Amazon rain forest. The tapestry was displayed at the Zoological Park at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. Liman also holds a Bachelor of Science degree and has studied plants for decades. She’s owned an art gallery, and has worked with Aboriginal people for twenty-five years.
Roxanne Lindley of Westbank First Nation
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Roxanne is a keeper of culture, and eco-heritage. For most of her life she has studied archaeology and plant ecology, drawing on the knowledge of elders and sharing her knowledge and findings with her community and non-aboriginal neighbours. She has had extensive training in forestry, and promotes respect for indigenous plants and their many uses. She was – for a day at least- the most powerful human being on the Westside.
That was the day that important archaeological evidence of the hunting and tool-making activities of long ago aboriginal people were found near an area used for infrastructure construction for the new bridge, and Lindley called for all work to cease.
New Inspiration For Art
When the two Westside women met, Gayle Liman was an art instructor under Dona Moore at the Kelowna Art Gallery. Later, after many coffees and brainstorming sessions, Roxanne took Liman to the Sensisyusten House of Learning to meet the school principal, and suggested that Gayle become Art Educator for the school. The principal accepted, and shortly after, the first idea came to fruition. Gayle had promised to be more than an instructor- she’d also promised to be the Curator for the children’s work, and to ensure that their work was displayed in a professional manner.
“The children at the school were creating art that related to the West Coast,” Liman says, “orcas and the ocean and other things that don’t relate to the Interior. I asked the children, ‘Who are WE?’”
“Roxanne was my cultural advisor. She took me to see the elders, we did research on the animals important to this area, and we helped the children work on art that depicted the Okanagan people.”
The first project was a wall mural that the children created. Its unveiling was attended by Senator Ross Fitzpatrick, and the Mayor of Kelowna at the time, Walter Gray. The children were thrilled. Later, true to her word, Liman had the children’s work displayed at The Alternator and Kelowna Galleries, as well as the Rotary Centre for the Arts.
The Plot Thickens – Literally
Meanwhile, Roxanne and Gayle planned other projects and ran ‘cultural camps’ for native and non-native children on school holidays. When they moved the camps to the Lindley land where Roxanne’s garden is, the suburban children became more engaged. Something about being under the sky, within the sky and among the native plants affected them.
Somehow, in the garden of native plants and organically-grown vegetables, the seeds were planted for the next project….
Celebration Of N’ha-a-itk
The Okanagan people, contrary to what you may have heard, did not fear the legendary creature that non-natives call Ogopogo. The Okanagan people revered this creature. Their own name for the being in the lake is soft and dignified: N’ha-a-itk.
Gayle Liman and Roxanne Lindley’s next project was to assemble an exhibition of Okanagan First Nation art and media that would share with non-native people the indigenous people’s feelings for the legendary N’ha-a-itk. As the guest curator, Gayle gathered together a film maker/vidographer – Rick Sagayadan - and several Okanagan Nation local artists and went to work. The result was a charming, jubilant and sometimes sorrowful collection of works that told of a colourful, strong, impressive and beleaguered lake being. N’ha-a-tik was depicted in delicate beads, in light and shadow, and in the case of one large sculpture by Roxanne, entangled in garbage - real refuse, taken in very recent times from his watery home.
The show was sponsored by and exhibited at the Kelowna Art Gallery, and opened a new cultural window on the heritage and beliefs of local First Nations people. Of course, the Dynamic Duo got another idea…
The Education Bundles
Pleased with the response to the N’ha-a-itk art exhibition, Dona Moore, Executive Director and Renee Burgess, Public Programmer of the Kelowna Art Gallery together with Gayle and Roxanne envisioned another opportunity. In the tradition of giving ‘bundles’ of special items as gifts or important cues, the group with the financial aid of the Westbank First Nation, decided to honour both old traditions and new innovations in one significant package.
Cultural Educational Bundles
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They created a set of handmade wooden boxes, decorated by Westbank artist Janine Lott, and filled them with mementoes of the lives and environs of the Okanagan people. Also included were modern means to pass on illuminating stories in the oral tradition – the voices of Okanagan people recorded on a DVD. Inside the boxes - called bundles to honour the original form of such packages - are carefully-selected samples of bead work, of significant plants and herbs, specially treated leather and even miniature works of art.
The educational bundles are honourary gifts, teaching tools, and messages. Often, when one of the bundles goes visiting a classroom or to a meeting, it will be held, opened and explained by the artist who assembled it. With touch, scent, vision and hearing, the contents of each box will be shared, personally and directly.
The Newest Adventure – Westsiders Off To The UN
The survival of some indigenous peoples depends on the survival and maintenance of the natural environments they’ve traditionally made their lives in. The world continues to change, and indigenous people are beginning to share their stories of survival, coping and adaptation.
In honour of her years of work with aboriginal people, supporting and facilitating their expression of heritage through art, and for her interest in biodiversity and indigenous plants, Gayle Liman recently received an invitation to attend a United Nations event in New York City with Roxanne Lindley and several others.
The Okanagan representatives will share their experiences, concerns and interests. It is expected that the event, the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, will be attended by 15,000 indigenous people from all over the world.
The Okanagan film, In the Spirit of N’ha-a-itk will be shown at the Forum, and of course, one of the special educational bundles will be presented.
“For me, this event is so special,” Gayle Liman said in advance of the trip to the U.S.
“This will be the first time the Okanagan people have been represented at a place like the United Nations, at an international event.” The Westside contingent will be in New York City for two days, during the third week of May.
Roxanne Lindley is somewhat more philosophical about this rare journey.
“Nowadays,” Lindley says, “I believe that anything can happen.”
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