Carolyn Knight

Redwing blackbird mosaic 2009, Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary. I was invited to create this mosaic to honour a patron of the sanctuary. A new-to-me process of in situ mosaic making, it lies under a viewing scope near the nature house. Approximately 4 feet by 5 feet. Now, time has dulled the image. In my mind it is vital fresh. For the birds nesting nearby, and ones winging through on their annual migration.

Today is World Wetlands Day!

Let's celebrate these hard-working, often overlooked "lungs of the planet." Read more about these important ecosystems and some of the notable wetlands we have in B.C. on our latest Watershed Watch blog: https://watershedwatch.ca/world-wetlands-day-2024/

Some songs say it for me. Thank you Iris Dement.

Workin' On A World (Lyric Video) - Iris DeMent "Workin' On A World" by Iris DeMent. Listen here: https://ffm.to/workinonaworldsingle.oydFrom the album Workin' On A World out now. Listen here: https://ffm....

The Harvest , Salish WSANEC Moon, CENQOLEW-The Dog Salmon return to Earth ( Sept) moon is waxing, a song to light the path.

Sam Lee sings in the old ways of the travellers, carrying traditions forward. I love his songfulness.
🌌🌖🌕🐟🐺🕸

Sam Lee - The Moon Shines Bright feat. Elizabeth Fraser (Live at RAK Studios) with Bernard Butler The Moon Shines Bright feat. Elizabeth Fraser, produced by Bernard Butler, taken from the new album, 'Old Wow', out now: https://slee.lnk.to/OldWowFollow Sam...

Such fun ! Ann Chou lead a pre-Culture Days workshop at Tim Gosley's magic theatre. We created Story Box stories. Sign up for the upcoming workshop at Quadra Village Community Centre to create your story. Link to learn more, register for free workshop.
https://culturedays.ca/en/events/41933376-fa79-4de0-b77e-b344b2b69b4b

Brought along my camas / kwetlal bulb lanterns to Gonzales Community Lantern Festival.💥
These lovely young people carried them as they were event ambassadors.🎆💥🎇
Sophie Fuldauer joined me in this last-minute mission. Thank you for playing along, lighting the lanterns, animating the woodland trail.
Lovely community vibe.
Well done organizers!💢

there's a lot of water under the bridge
where song stories lead me
telling tales
of frog ponds, streams, forest meadows,
into makery of images turned to
memories for tomorrows
🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
On stage for this event, will share A Story of a beloved childhood frog pond, and will sing A Song about loving the very seeds of Life.

September 14, 2023 Event https://uwsvi.ca/communitycampaignkickoff/...



https://wordpress.com/view/colabcoart.wordpress.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lT5W32xRN4&ab_channel=PBSTerra

Want to Solve Wildfires and Drought? Leave it to BEAVERS! Take the PBS Digital Studios audience survey: https://to.pbs.org/2021surveyMore and more scientists are starting to ask the question: Could beavers be the al...

A true story....
There is a lot of water under the bridge,
since that night, November 15 2006.
A deluge of rain leading up. Two weeks of a "pineapple express" rain episode that would not quit, for one.
And for two, the epic month of endless cleaning, pillar to post, as a lice episode in my child's Grade 6 class nitpicked us all to agitation.
What with the condensation of 120% humidity indoors, the washer and dryer endlessly spinning, literal nitpicking my kids, husband, morning and night, my own mane. Aghhh!
Exhausted and frustrated, I went to bed but couldn't sleep.
Downstairs, my eldest son and his dad where playing guitars, and though I love music, I harrumphed down, "what is it going to take to get some QUIET around here. I need to sleep!"
Clomped back up to bed, attempt number two for sleep: No such luck.
Got up, went to the computer, booted it, opened email, and there in uppercase,"***ACTION ALERT FOR BEAR MOUNTAIN***
{ I had vowed if ever something threatened the little lake, Florence Lake, a kettle lake at the base of the mountain, I would do what I could to protect it }. My promise made, I determined to act. But!
I had just harranged my husband and son. Now I needed their help.
"Ah, I'm sorry I grumbled at you. Drive me to Bear Mountain, please"!
I grabbed snack, water, camera, memory cards, batteries, cell phone, rain gear, and off we zoomed to Langford for arrival by 5:30AM.
Thus, I met 3 strangers, and heard a brief overview, filmed the Indigenous folks telling us why the alert was made - to stop developer from blowing up a sacred cave.
Then up we went, started the 45 minute hike on SPAET/ Bear/ Skirt Mountain. A steep hike, to protect a sacred cave, a sacred mountain spring, an important place for local people, for bears, cougar, frogs, spotted owl, many bird species, important plants, rocks, ravines, middens, tool-making sites.
All gone. Gone.
Gone despite valiant efforts of many many many good folks, trying, trying every which way. To nought.

Every November 15th, I remember the night that changed my life forever, set me along a path. Receiving the call to action, to stand with Lekwungen and WSANEC people. Standing alongside, in solidarity, in the face of racism, ignorance, abuse by rude contractor, construction workers, the powers that be. I got an ear full let's put it that way.
Listening, learning, trying to understand inequality's blatant disrespect of Indigenous people, of intrinsic importance of clean water, forest ecosystem functions.
Two years later, in February, the faction that wanted its way, feller bunched acres of second growth red cedar, hemlock, fir trees, in mere minutes, filled another cave with concrete, welded a rebar grid across the concrete, to really block out karst cave enthusiasts who had enjoyed exploring its extraordinarily length, as the area is fortunate to have limestone rock that form karst caves, as water moves through forming caves.
The birds and insects were so disturbed; I suppose they were ejected from their homes, flying around wobbly, looking for landing pads.

I suppose everyone can recall a day that changed their lives forever.

The day I made the stand, November 16, 2006, changed my life ineluctably.
The then Tsartlip Chief Chris Tom, and his son, current Chief Don Tom, hiked up the mountain, somehow fending off "security", arriving around noon.
It had been a cold morning, my snack eaten, hunger was definitely setting in. Chris pulled out from his back pack, a loaf of Wonder bread and some baloney and made me the best damn sandwich of my life! We laughed about it later. He said, "You know I ah took some media types up there, show them you know, and they couldn't see the face rocks. Some can see, some can't", Chris said, when I saw him at RJ Hospital when he was there with his family, when I took my mother in for a blood test during her bout with lymphoma, back in 2014.

Many memories November 16, and others I documented, sites that are obliterated, such a shame they are gone. Still in my memory banks, I see the beauty there, the fern ravine, grandfather rock, the cedar wetland, the cougar den and the little stream with deer bone remains nearby, the frog pond, moss-covered rocks, the vernal stream dry in summer, flowing in winter, CMT's - culturally modified trees, many plants so special, precious.
I wrote a short puppet theatre show about water, the importance of water in sending me along a path. The story I share here, tonight, features in my How Did You Get Here? {by Water} - A Suitcase puppet theatre show.
I had to figure out a way to carry the story, tell it, in a manner that was healing for my heart, to be able to tell the story and not hurt, or be hurt, even though it hurt, if you know what I mean.
Water will go where it will go. Life too.

Another Water Story: How To Restore a Water Table.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fFXJ3G49pY&ab_channel=AndrewMillison

Trees Make Water 🍃🌧💦💦🌦
The Land and the Sky cooperate, collaborating clouds into streams, raindrops into rivers.

A 7-minute illustrated glimpse into the miraculous relationship of water and trees
☁️☁️🌦🌥⛅️🌧🌦🌧🌧🌨☁️🌧⛈🌨
💦💦💧🌧💦💧💦🌧💧💦💧❄️💨💦💧
🌳🌲🌳🌲🌲🌳🌳🌲🌲🌲🌳🌳🌳🌲🌲
🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂🍂 🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄🍄
💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦
💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦💦
🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞

How Trees Make Water Permaculture Instructor Andrew millison explains how trees are connected to water in the atmosphere as well as water flowing through the landscape. This vide...

Your patience is requested:
Am currently curious concerning storm water, water quality, marine ecosystem liv-a-bil-ity - for *every*living*thing*. ( prompted by the returning rains, in time for salmon migrations in my region.
(BTW, Charters Creek in Sooke https://salmonforsooke.ca/
Colquitz River, in Saanich, are accessible waterways to experience migrating salmon, as well as the ever-popular Goldstream River run.)
Went down the storm drain hole, peering at piles of numbers, stats, monitoring data for storm water, summary 2021: storm water draining off lands, roofs, parking lots, sewered - and belive it or not - un-sewered lands along the waterfront here on Southern Vancouver Island.
Looked at map-after-map, with triangles, squares, corresponding to each storm drain draining into seaside waterfronts, the many small creeks, draining into marine inlets, beaches and bays, favourite places to run and play in the surf.
Read the ratings: low, medium, and high level monitor results: e.coli, cadmium, arsenic, lead (shaking my head).
My mind swam madly: will storm water be important enough to the public, in consideration for serious land-based and marine ecosystem planning, in every development, every neighbourhood in my region? Will people understand why I am concerned about storm water - volume; quality; mitigation efforts?
Link to CRD Monitoring Report Summary 2021:
https://www.crd.bc.ca/docs/default-source/crd-document-library/plans-reports/wastewater-stormwater/2021-reports/2021-ar-swq-corearea-summaryreport-final.pdf?sfvrsn=4ffca3cd_4&fbclid=IwAR1ZyOV1pLlq-1RFc2Ajgl3sjmD3XoOg_y7NVd75ok7kIIuHKCy136IcAE8

A quote from the final page of the report summary:
"OTHER CONCERNS
There are a number of other concerns that have been jointly reviewed and discussed by staff from the CRD
and the other jurisdictions involved. This review and discussion assists in setting priorities for remediation
of discharges with a high level of concern for public health and the environment. These include:
• the cost of remediation
• the likelihood that remediation will be
successful
• compatibility with the priorities of the jurisdictions
• public interest"

I have been *following* this story since my childhood, and make work/ collaborating with people, about watershed-thinking, in my arts-practice for over 20 years.
(most recently, performing my "Unsettling Settler" pieces, about "invisible water that weaves beneath out feet" namely, Bowker Creek/Thaywun, and a scene about a lost-to-development beloved frog pond, where I played as a young child in Esquimalt, performed solo and as an ensemble player, onstage in im:print2022, at the Chief Dan George Theatre, at UVIC, sponsored by ICA, Raino Dance, and Department of Theatre, UVIC.
About Im:print 2022 https://bit.ly/3Dv1k6T
Have questions of the newly-elected deciders/politicians throughout the capital regional district, up and down Vancouver Island, all around the Salish Sea, throughout the province, across this Nation of Nations/ every constituency:
Q #1: have you looked at water quality stats for your constituent area?
Q #2: will you read up on stats prior to making planning decisions, setting priorities per budget cycle, per annum, per your term in office?
Q #3: will you convene for action to improve water quality, and commit to planning for mitigating effects of climate chaos, as marine waterfront, and upstream creeks/rivers/wetlands/watersheds get hit with unprecedented impacts of *100-year rainstorms*, washouts, floods, impacts to drinking water? Not to mention, infrastructure: *remember last November 2021*? The washouts of major highways into/ out of southern BC due to atmospheric sky-rivers dumping extreme volumes of rain, cutting off supply chain of essential items, such as food, medicine, renovation materials, to island communities?
Will events such as profound as the floods of Nov 2021 be remembered, will the effects inform priorities?
Q #4: will you become informed about *watershed thinking*, that everything done to the land impacts fresh, and salt, water ecosystems?
Q #5: Will you learn about relationship between trees and health, about forest ecosystem health and the inter-related health of downstream water courses; the importance of tree canopy for habitat, temperature mitigation as canopies lower temperatures, for hydrological balance ( forests "grow" water, clean water "feeds" ecosystems, etc.), the relationship between healthy forests, healthy marine ecosystems, for equity, cultural importance, and food security/ sovereignty for Indigenous peoples?
May we all remember water will go where it will go, more often where we least like it to go.
Thinking of the next generations' quality of life, everyone's grandchildren, of every species, community, culture; for swimmers, flyers, crawlers, pollinators, incubators, all us 2-legged, 5-fingered Beings, and All of Life impacted by what is decided on behalf of All Living Beings, animate and inanimate.
Thanks for listening !

🧐👁👃👁👣🐾🌱🌿🎋🍂🌸🪺🪹💦💧🌧❄️🌊☀️🔥🕸🐞🐝🐛🦋🐦🦆🦅🦇🐺🐻🐢🦐🦀🐟🐬🐳🐋🦈🦦🦫🍄🌼🍓🫐🧄🥚🥔🥬🥦🥒🍲🥟🍙🌰🍯🚣‍♀️🚴‍♀️🏊‍♂️🏕⛺️🏡🌅🏞🌄🌉🌁🌌🌠

www.crd.bc.ca

lie down 1.mp4

https://colabcoart.wordpress.com
Launched my CoLabCoArt site, share projects, let folks see some past, invite new work.🐦🌿🍂🌅

Imagine water water water.

lie down 1.mp4

Autumn 2022

Delighted and proud to play a role in this leading edge production.
Come see and hear amazing inter-weaving stories from diverse perspectives.
Stories connect us to one another, and to the lands and waters in and from our homelands.
Suitable for all ages.
Evening and matinee performances.
Please share to your networks.

From Prof. Jan Wood

Dear Colleagues and Friends,
It is with great sorrow I share the news that a former colleague, John Krich, passed away during the night.

John was an M.F.A. graduate from the Yale School of Drama and a member of the Department of Theatre from 1969 to 2002. He contributed greatly to the life of this university and our community as a beloved professor of acting, a versatile and inventive performer, and a caring and supportive director.

Shortly after his arrival in our Department, John established the Victoria Fair with a fellow instructor and dear friend, Harvey Miller. The Victoria Fair presented three plays produced each season by the Department of Theatre (most often at the McPherson Playhouse) and included international theatre artists of note including Christopher Newton, Marti Maraden and Neil Munro. John also spearheaded the Phoenix Summer Theatre which ran as a repertory company from 1972 to 1996 and employed numerous Phoenix students. In 1996, he organized an international Beckett Festival presented at the Phoenix Theatre.

He directed many shows at the Phoenix and appeared in others as an actor working alongside our students. In his final year at the Phoenix, he gave an awe-inspiring performance as Hamm in a memorable production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame directed by Giles Hogya (photo attached).

John continued to perform following his retirement in 2002 in Canada and the United States, notably appearing in Blue Bridge Rep.’s inaugural production of As You Like It. In his final years, he found contentment in his old pastimes of reading, writing, and drawing (or “doodling” as he referred to it). He loved language and was a dedicated logophile and an avid cruciverbalist. He zealously collected references to the number “7” amassing over three thousand entries. He relished slow thoughtful walks. When health or weather prevented him from walking, he drove along Dallas Road to Beach Drive, up Cedar Hill X Road, once around the Ring Road, a nod to the Phoenix, and back home again.

Always a teacher. Always an inspiration. He will be missed.

“All has not been said and never will be.” Samuel Beckett.


We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.


Endgame Photo Credits:
Director: Giles Hogya
Set Designer: Allan Stichbury
Costume Designer: Mary Kerr
Guest Lighting Designer: Melinda Sutton
Movement Coach: Peter Balkwill
Stage Manager: Noelle Miles
Cast: John Krich (Faculty), Ryan Arnold, Devon Pipars and Zachary Stevenson.

True story!

New video by Carolyn Knight

Attended this event, as I had watched, over many years, awaiting the day this return.
Land Back Lives in Lekwungen!

Tuesday, July 26, 2022, an historic announcement, signed by Chief Ron Sam, Songhees Nation, and by Chief Rob Thomas, Esquimalt Nation, as a BC Hydro representative completes signing the final agreement, transferring Rock Bay lands back to Lekwungen People.
Lekwungen ancestors working tirelessly, over decades of displacement, restoring roles of stewardship for their home territories. July 26th2022, a victory to celebrate.

Historic Rock Bay, layered over millennia, a coho salmon stream, as told to me by knowledge keepers from both Nations, during my collaborations on Rock Bay Creek Revival Community Watershed Project, 2015-2019.

The creek's headwaters rising in Fernwood neighbourhood, flowing through Hillside Quadra, slipping down Queens Avenue before reaching tideline; 1850's, headwater pond/wetland, a water source for burgeoning settlement; buried for stormwater management in 20th Century.
21st Century: returned to original stewards!

Rock Bay Creek flows into Rock Bay.
Beneath our feet, invisible water weaves us together.

New video by Carolyn Knight

https://www.facebook.com/100063684244637/posts/492572749542196/?sfnsn=mo

Next week!
Award-winning singer-songwriter and musicologist Jeremy Dutcher will be here in the Chief Dan George Theatre at the Phoenix Theatre for a free panel discussion with guests on how the arts, archives and language can further the goals of Truth and Reconciliation.

Friday, September 9, 12-1:20pm
Free - All welcome

Catch Jeremy live at the The Farquhar at UVic that evening at 7pm. Details and tickets here:
https://tickets.uvic.ca/TheatreManager/1/tmEvent/tmEvent3080.html

Son has September 2022 live show dates🎤🎵🎙🎸🎶

What's to hand. What's to mind. What's together.

https://youtu.be/twVtYSyHdYM

Had a pre-listen before Sam Tudor shares the bill with Aidan Knight, this Wednesday June 29 Victoria Event Centre.
I think I'm gonna like the show.

Sam Tudor - Everybody's Keeping Their Word The first single from Sam Tudor's upcoming album.https://www.instagram.com/same_tudor/Bandcamp: https://samtudor.bandcamp.comSpotify: https://sptfy.com/54mQP...

!Here they come again!! The BirdCast prediction for migration over the next few nights is topping 300 million birds per night—even more than the push we saw last weekend. Birding should be great the next few days, especially in the central and southeastern U.S. It's also a good time to turn off nonessential indoor and outdoor lights to help birds stay safe and on course. Learn more about our Lights Out project and other ways to help keep birds safe: http://bit.ly/LightsOutForBirds

Today - For the Love of the Earth Day, 2022.
At Royal Oak Burial Park,
- a not-for-profit municipal cemetary in Colquitz Watershed, Lkwungen and WSANEC homelands.
In the Woodlands Green Burial area.
Cedar, sword fern, rosemary, heather, Carea japonica.
Woven willow coffin, silk shroud, bundles of care.
H**p cordage, cloth to hold all.
Salt, earth, sage, water.
Songs, procession, prayer bundles committed to the ground.
Commitment bundles honouring the Sacred Holy Mother Earth.