Musqueam People
secəlenəxʷ - Morgan Guerin
secəlenəxʷ - Morgan Guerin patrolling Fraser River. Photo courtsey of Chris Adams.
My name is secəlenəxʷ and I was born and raised at Musqueam. My father was George Guerin and my grandfather was Arnold Guerin. I have relatives from pənel̕əχət̕ᶿ (Penelakut), to Oregon, to Norway.
Fishing is in my blood. For the past 20 years, I have worked as a Fisheries Officer for Musqueam. Fish, particularly salmon, are important for the Musqueam people and always have been. Of course we eat fish, but we also learn a lot during the process of harvesting and preparing fish.
(L-R) šχʷəpq̓ʷəlecə - Howard J. Grant and secəlenəxʷ - Morgan Guerin on Fraser River, 2013. Photo courtesy Victoria L. Sparrow.
secəlenəxʷ - Morgan Guerin and children at c̓əsnaʔəm vigil, 2012. Photo courtesy Mary Point.
secəlenəxʷ - Morgan Guerin in his regalia during a Truth and Reconciliation Event, 2013. Photo courtesy Rhiannon Bennett.
Some of my earliest memories took place on a boat. I think I was six years old when I first went fishing. I didn’t know then, but I was learning about my people, our history, and how to care for our natural resources. I thought I was just learning to fish. Now I understand my teachings started way back then. I learned that I belong to a rich culture with strong traditions, despite the fact that we have had to adapt to major changes over the past 150 years.
For the exhibition c̓əsnaʔəm, the city before the city, I made antler tools, a large sturgeon harpoon, and harpoon points. Making belongings based on oral histories and stories in my community is really interesting and fun. It teaches me to respect my elders and to respect how much they know. By learning from our oral histories, I have transformed a deer bone into a tool to spear fish. When I make these belongings, I also learn about physics, geography, and history.
The sturgeon harpoon I made is 32 feet long and is evidence of our strong oral history. It was built completely based on information shared by the elders of my community, none of whom had ever seen one but retold stories they had heard about making and using harpoons. I used these detailed stories to create a brand new harpoon. We would not be able to use this harpoon today, however, because we are concerned about the welfare of the sturgeon: it is an at-risk species.
I am also a Musqueam councilor. That means I am an elected official who works alongside ten other elected councilors leading our community towards the future. Leadership here means listening to the community and representing what they want; it is part of being səy̓em̓, a respected member of the Musqueam community.