‘We’ve Always Been Told To Respect The Water Because It Takes Care Of Us’

Francine Douglas Shoyshqwelwet has spent her life close to water.

She is from the Stó:lō (Sts’ailes) First Nation, as well as the Tsimpshian (Metlakatla), meaning she’s linked to the rivers of the Lower Mainland, as well as the Pacific coastline near Prince Rupert.

“We’ve always been told to respect the water because it takes care of us. It’s what sustains us, it’s what provides for us,” she says in a new video released by Destination British Columbia. 

The video follows Francine “as she journeys into the Stó:lō S’olh Temexw in the Fraser Valley.”

She’s currently an Indigenous Tourism Specialist based in the Vancouver area. But her insights about water resonate across the province, and especially in the Skeena.

“When I think of how everything is connected I really think about the role I  have, and how we all play such a small part of something so much bigger,” she says. “And I think we forget that.”