If the hurt and grief we carry is a woven blanket, it is time to weave ourselves anew.
In the Nłeʔkepmxcín language, spíləx̣m are remembered stories, often shared over tea in the quiet hours between Elders. Rooted within the British Columbia landscape, and with an almost tactile representation of being on the land and water, Spíləx̣m explores resilience, reconnection, and narrative memory through stories.
Captivating and deeply moving, this story basket of memories tells one Indigenous woman’s journey of overcoming adversity and colonial trauma to find strength through creative works and traditional perspectives of healing, transformation, and resurgence.
Table of Content
Table of Contents
Prairie Letters
- February 4, 1973
- April 5, 1973
- July 1, 1973
- July 26, 1973
Her Blood Is From Sptétkw
- sptétkw
- fried bologna and rice
- yellow house
- Speed Sew
- hamburger stew
- lullabies
- buckle-up shoes
- Little People
- c̓əlc̓ále
- alpine mountains
- frog whisperers
- cousin cluster
Métis
- Saskatchewan
- La Ronge
- Mooshoom
- Back to Batoche, 1985
Nłeʔkepmxcín Lullaby
- skíxzeʔ transforms
- Cəceʔ and Sínciʔ
- Rockstar Hair
- K̓éceʔ Tea
- University of British Columbia
- Blackout
- for the party
- Tmíxw—This Land
- Grandpa’s Corrals
- Learning to Heal
- i am sorry
- it is okay.
- the same as trees
Land Teachings
- Métis
- Beginnings
- Prayer Warriors
- gathering
- gathering songs
- sn’ix’wam
Coming to My Senses
- The land, we are woven together like strands of light
- tmíxw. temexw. temxulaxw.
- Porcupine Song
- snow on the mountains
- Salish Dancer
- The Kingfisher’s Dance
- race day
- quw’utsun
sorrow
- September 16, 1998, 10:15 pm
- deer stew
- i dreamt of you last night
- tracks
- little brown
- September 24, 1998
- October 1, 1999, 10:15 pm
- With Each Stroke of My Paddle
yémit and merímstn
- Teapot Hill
- this trail
- unceded
- Huckleberries Are My Weakness
- medicine song
- pressure canner rhythms
- sx̣wúsm
- Spring Chicken
- going home
- come inside
- wildflowers
- nkéxw
- tmíxw
- A Gathering of Stones
- the riverbed is home
this body is a mountain, this body is the land
- as sisters
- Scw̓éxmx
- May 20, 2000
- Adanac Trail
Resurgence
- The Trail
- Stories Are Alive
- Why Am I Writing This?
- Run
- I Believe in the Power of Prayer
- We Are Their Prayers Come to Life
- Reweave the Universe
- Offering
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Index
About the author
Nicola I. Campbell is the author of Shi-shi-etko, Shin-chi’s Canoe, Grandpa’s Girls, and A Day with Yayah. Nłeʔkepmx, Syílx, and Métis, from British Columbia, her stories weave cultural and land-based teachings that focus on respect, endurance, healing, and reciprocity.Nicola's books have been among the finalists for numerous children’s literary awards. Shin-chi’s Canoe won the 2009 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and was a 2008 Governor General's Award for Illustration finalist.