Picturing Transformation ― Nexw-Ayanstut

The history of the Pacific Northwest is rife with stories of conflict between loggers and environmentalists, indigenous peoples and government-backed corporations. Many of them have ended in violence, arrests, and clear-cutting. Farm License 38, which encompasses Sims Creek in the upper Elaho Valley, became the site of a wholly different kind of protest between 1997 and 2007. Because of the actions of ten thousand people brought together by Squamish Nation Hereditary Chief Bill Williams, artist Nancy Bleck, and the late mountaineer John Clarke, this land ? a 50,000-hectare section of the Squamish First Nation now known as Wild Spirit Places ? was saved. Picturing Transformation is the story of Uts'am/Witness, a series of camping weekends held at Sims Creek that brought together indigenous and non-indigenous people to walk, sleep, eat, make art, have conversations, and participate in ceremonies on this disputed land. Through the words and photos of those who attended, this beautiful book pays homage to the power that people with strong vision and a common purpose can play in honoring tradition, safeguarding land, and changing policy. It is a lesson in the possibilities for resolving conflict peacefully, now and in the future.

Nancy Bleck is an artist, photographer, educator, and cofounder of Uts'am/Witness project. A teacher at Emily Carr University and a recipient of the YMCA's Women of Distinction Award, she lives in Vancouver. Katherine Dodds began her advertising career with Adbusters and is a recipient of the Women in Film Woman of Vision Award. She lives in Vancouver. Chief Bill Williams has served as an elected member of the Squamish First Nation Council since 1980 and as a member of the community’s Hereditary Council since 1995. He lives in his traditional territory of Squamish Nation, British Columbia.