#22 | Language Is A Lens - Jared Qwustenuxun Williams (Cowichan Tribes)
“Language is a lens. When you learn the language, you can really see the way that the people see the world.”
My guest today is Jared Qwustenuxun (QUEST-AY-NA-HUN) Williams, a Salish Food Sovereignty Chef and Manager at the Elders Kitchen for his community of the Cowichan Tribes. He is also a father and owner of Medieval Chaos, the largest live action role playing game in Western Canada.
I’m grateful for our conversation, where he illuminates his love for traditional teachings, language, and story, deeply informed by rootedness to his place, the land of the Cowichan peoples, where I currently also call home.
We explore how language is lens into an indigenous view of the world, how it has come to be that modern people know more about Greek gods and Marvel superheroes instead of the stories of the land beneath their feet, and why really, it all comes back to the food.
Enjoy.
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SHOW NOTES
History of the Cowichan lands
Why are there so few indigenous restaurants?
Apprenticeship in traditional ways with his grandmother
Language is a lens
No word for sorry in my culture
Mythologies of place
Legacy of residential schools
“You have to admit a lot when you begin to receive the reality of where you are.”
The heroes and villains who used to live here
Matrilineal leadership in culture
Women are the ones who hold the names
Arrival of Christianity
Women warriors and men weavers
Toxic masculinity vs village intelligence
What does it mean to be an ally?
Knowing the language of where you live
We need to work to help each other
