Who Are the Stó:lō?

However, Stó:lō téméxw is not just a geographical area. It also contains the physical and spiritual elements, such as belongings, animals, fish, plants, environment, transformer sites, homes, and ancestors, that tie generations of Stó:lō to each other and anchor them to their land/world. Stó:lō sxwōxwiyám (origin stories or ancient narratives) tell of a time in the far distant past when animals and people could talk to one another, and even transform into one another. Into this world, Chíchelh Siyám, the Great Creator, sent Xexá:ls , “the Transformers” – the daughter and three sons of Red Headed Woodpecker and Black Bear. Xexá:ls “fixed” that chaotic and dangerous world into the permanent, recognizable one we know today by transforming Stó:lō ancestors. Some people were turned into stone as punishment or to serve as lessons (as with the three chiefs at Xa:ytem, who refused to share knowledge), while others were rewarded and became particular landmarks, plants, or animals (as with the generous man Xpá:y, who became the cedar tree, and Lhílheqey (Mt. Cheam), the “mother mountain” who watches over the Stó:lō and returning salmon).

Xe:xá:ls also gave Stó:lō ancestors the knowledge and skills they needed to survive and thrive. Sxwōxwiyám show how the Stó:lō are connected to their past, to everything in Stó:lō téméxw, and to each other – each geographical feature, plant and animal that has a Transformer story associated with it provides lessons for Stó:lō about how to behave, how to get along with one another, and how to care for the natural environment. Xwélíqwéltél (Grand Chief Steven Point) invites people to think of the Transformers’ actions as having “literally inscribed the Stó:lō ‘Constitution’ onto the landscape.”

More than this, when Xexá:ls transformed the Stó:lō ancestors, their shxwelí (spirit or life force) remained alive and inside the things they were transformed into, and are still present in those things today. That is why the Stó:lō regard natural resources and geographical features as relatives. According to Yamelot (Elder Rosaleen George), “Shxwelí is inside you…. It’s in your parents, it’s in your grandparents, it’s in your great-grandparents, it’s in your great-great-great grandparents. It’s in the rocks, it’s in the trees, it’s in the grass, it’s in the ground.”

More recent histories, called sqwélqwel , are the oral and documented histories of Stó:lō individuals, their families, and their ancestors. Sqwélqwel include stories about who a person’s relatives are, and where their families have lived, fished, hunted, harvest, and travelled. While sxwōxwiyám show the Stó:lō how they are connected to their ancient past, sqwélqwel tie them to the present, and future.

Together, sxwōxwiyám and sqwélqwel inform the Stó:lō principle of tómiyeqw (“The Fourteen Generations Principle”). Tómiyeqw means both “great-great-great-great grandchild” and great-great-great-great grandparent.” The term reflects a distinct cosmology and philosophy, and shapes the way Stó:lō see the world and interact with their environment. Those living today know that in making any decision, they are expected to take into consideration the anticipated needs of the people as-yet-unborn, who will live seven generations into the future, while simultaneously doing so in a way that would be understood by, and acceptable to, their ancestors from seven generations in the past.

These understandings and principles place the Stó:lō in a unique position in relation to Stó:lō téméxw. Based on thousands of years of cultural and spiritual teachings, the Stó:lō try to maintain a reciprocal and balanced relationship with their environment. As Mimoqw, Elder Bertha “Birdie” Garner said, “We take care of s’ólh téméxw (our world/land) and everything in it, and it takes care of us.”