Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) has unveiled its χʷəχʷéy̓əm Indigenous collection at the Langley campus. The third χʷəχʷéy̓əm Indigenous collection on a KPU campus, after the first in Surrey last year and the second in Richmond earlier this month, focuses on medicines from the land.
χʷəχʷéy̓əm means oral storytelling in the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language spoken by the Kwantlen First Nation. The name was gifted by Sesmelot (Fern Gabriel) of that Nation.
The collection at KPU Langley features salves and products from Sḵwálwen, a company founded by Leigh Joseph, an ethnobotanist from the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) First Nation. It also features books by Indigenous authors with themes of Indigenous medicines and horticulture.
Rachel Chong, Indigenous engagement and subject liaison librarian at KPU and a member of Métis nation, curated the collection.
“The nursing program and faculty of science and horticulture are based in Langley and we really wanted to reflect these programs at Langley campus in the χʷəχʷéy̓əm space,” says Chong.
Each collection reflects something unique about that campus. Richmond has a focus on design for the Wilson School of Design while Surrey features cedar in its collection.
The chairs designed by Métis artist Jennifer Lamont, a graduate of the Wilson School of Design and now coordinator of Indigenous student transitions and engagement at the university, are also featured in the collection. The armrests feature a powwow dancer print.
Housed in the library at KPU Langley, the χʷəχʷéy̓əm Indigenous collection is designed to be a circular space to reduce hierarchy and encourage more interaction between participants.
