Tree Stories of a Squamish Girl

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:08]Wherever the water touched the shoreline, that's where we call home.

[00:00:13]We are the land and the land is us.

[00:00:26]Good day, family and friends. My name is Tulalip Campo. Uh I'm very happy to call this land my classroom. This is my teacher. My mother and my grandmother and my aunt Teresa, those were my knowledge keepers. They fought for our tradition. I did not live from a western diet. I didn't live from a western pharmacy.

[00:00:44]All my medicines and resources were from what's behind me today. And I'm so very grateful for it because I could live off this land for weeks on end because of them and I don't think a lot of people could say that.

[00:00:54]>> Communities of the First Nations people in Canada lived on its specific Northwest Coast for thousands of years.

[00:01:02]Here they've built traditions and a love for the land that keeps sustaining them, connecting them, and shaping them.

[00:01:09]>> We are the land and the land is us. This land is my teacher.

[00:01:13]My parents would incorporate teachings through me when I didn't even know it, but the story I want to share to you today today is about our trees and how they got their name and their pine cones. [clears throat] I want you imagine creator in a large valley and all of our great trees were lined up to receive their name and their pine cone.

[00:01:32]And there's this one tree and he was so so excited to get his name that he ended up lodging in front of the line and creator noticed that. And creator looked at that tree and said, "I'm going to teach you [music] a lesson today and this lesson is patience."

[00:01:45]And this tree was so embarrassed and so upset when he got sent back to the line.

[00:01:51]And when it was finally his turn to get come to the line and get his name and his pine cone, there was only one pine cone left and it was the smallest pine cone of them all, and he was named the western hemlock.

[00:02:02]They say that for the western hemlock, if you get three to four pins of this western hemlock, it is your full intake of vitamin C. When settlers came here to Canada and they were very sick from scurvies, [music] our people knew that they were very malnourished, and we gave them our western hemlock to help them fight their colds throughout the season.

[00:02:23]When you have the western hemlock, it's a very citrus acid. You could >> [music] >> taste the acidity it gives off. My mother used to put this in my salads when I was a little girl.

[00:02:34]>> While we were filming, light rain seeped into the soil and onto my camera equipment. Drops on the lens.

[00:02:40]>> No worries.

[00:02:41]>> While I meddled around to keep everything dry, Dalaysay was in her element.

[00:02:47]>> That duck is so curious.

[00:02:50]I hear eagle.

[00:02:51]>> [music] >> They're beautiful, aren't they?

[00:02:56]My Squamish people, [music] we would spend our winters here in Stanley Park, but we spent our summers in Squamish Valley. One thing about the First Nations and my people is we focused on sustainable harvesting. [music] We would never take the first berries in the spring, and we would never take the last. The reason why is the first berries that came out, all the animals in this land and in this territory have been waiting for these [music] berries to come out. My people during this time, we would dry our berries. We would dry our wild game [music] throughout the winters. So, we would keep the first berries to come out for them, and we would never take the last because those last berries, those last berries were the ones that would fall back into the ground and resustain for the next berries to come.

[00:03:38]>> [music] >> I couldn't imagine a life without this tree. This tree right here is the red cedar, our tree of life. This tree came about 6,000 years ago, gifted from [music] California.

[00:03:52]We call it the tree of life because we utilize this tree from cradle to grave.

[00:03:56]When you first come to this life, you'll have a basket ready for you either given down from a grandmother or a relative or an auntie.

[00:04:04]And this cradle would be perfectly fit for you to fit in. It'd be very compact and you'd be placed on your mother's back while she takes care of this land doing her errands, taking care of her gardens. You are a witness. This is your first first teacher. This is your first classroom. And that's [music] why we call it the tree of life from cradle to grave.

[00:04:26]>> This man is practicing the ritual of smudging, an age-old tradition of the indigenous people of Canada. For them, the burning of sacred herbs purify body and soul and brings clarity to the mind.

[00:04:40]>> Uh I wanted to gift you this. Uh this is our tree of life, the cedar bath, but this is our West Coast sage. I smudge every morning before I start the day. It's almost like a prayer.

[00:04:52]Uh when I smudge, I smudge over my head to make sure I have great thoughts. I smudge both my ears that I have clear hearing.

[00:05:00]I smudge my eyes so I see in a good way.

[00:05:03]I smudge my mouth so I speak in a good way. And then finally, I'll smudge both my legs so I walk with strength. So I want to give this to you.

[00:05:11]>> Thank you, Demeese. [music] >> You're welcome. Huych'qa everyone.