Stó:lō Sitel

Éy swáyel

You are invited to learn about respectful and responsible ways to draw upon Stó:lō stories for K-12 education, which continues the cultural teachings of Stó:lō Elders who first created storied teaching and learning approaches.

Our History

A team of educators from the Siyá:ye Yoyes Society, representatives from the Coqualeetza Cultural Education Centre and Dr. Jo-ann Archibald, Q’um Q’um Xiiem, have worked together since 2020, to refresh the story component of the Stó:lō curriculum, which was developed some years ago. This new project is called, Opening the Basket: Sharing, Revitalizing and Reconnecting the Stó:lō Sitel curriculum (Opening the Basket). This website serves as a professional development tool for educators looking to incorporate the Stó:lō Sitel stories in their work. Several groups collaborate to bring this work together.

Coqualeetza Cultural Education Centre

Coqualeetza provides cultural and Halq'emeylem language resources to 18 of the 24 Stó:lō  communities. The Coqualeetza Elders' group worked with educators to develop an elementary school curriculum called the Stó:lō Sitel during the late 1970s - 1980s. Sitel, in the  Halq'emeylem language, is a basket used to store treasures.  This curriculum has a strong story-base to it and the stories, which are in print form are applicable today.  The concern is that many teachers do not know how to use the stories for the revised BC school curriculum and there is a sense that the Stó:lō Sitel needs to be refreshed.  Coqualeetza participates in the Working Group to share archival and cultural resources, to learn how educators are drawing upon the stories for educational purposes, and to identify resources that could be refreshed or revised.

Community involvement

The two major stakeholders affected by and who can influence systemic changes are centrally involved teachers and Stó:lō community members. By developing a teacher-centred professional  development component it is hoped that underlying issues which concern teachers may be identified and addressed. There are experienced K-12 teachers who have successfully used the Stó:lō  Sitel stories who are serving as mentors. The Coqualeetza Cultural Education Centre is providing accessible Stó:lō story resources and sharing this project with the Elders' group and other community members to identify and address their questions and concerns about including Stó:lō ways of knowing in the school curriculum, along with suggestions for culturally responsive learning approaches. The participating school districts and the Coqualeetza Cultural Education Centre are working together to create a plan to sustain system-wide regional cooperation for developing and sharing Stó:lō Sitel stories pedagogy and educational resources within Stó:lō Territory and beyond.   

School Districts

There are nine participating public school districts (Coquitlam, New Westminster, Surrey, Langley, Maple Ridge, Mission, Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Fraser Cascade) in the Stó:lō area with Langley School District serving as the administration hub for this project. The Surrey School District formerly provided web site expertise, now the Abbotsford School District is currently assisting with web site expertise. Each district has designated one or two educators to participate in this project’s, Working Group. The role of the Working Group is to identify key priorities and needs, engage in cross-district cooperative planning, and share story projects and resources. Working Group members also mentor and work with their respective district teachers and community members. 

Vancouver Foundation

The Vancouver Foundation has provided funding for this project which addresses systemic educational change by focusing on professional development of K-12 teachers so that they are mentored to develop relevant Stó:lō pedagogy, work cooperatively with other educators and community members, and share their experiences and resources with others.

Page updated

Google Sites

Report abuse