Role
2017 Keynote Speaker
Khelsilem is an inspirational young educator and community organizer. He is both Squamish and Kwakwaka’wakw and lives in Vancouver. Khelsilem is passionate about creating opportunities for growth, renewal, and exploration for Indigenous peoples. He is the founder of a ground breaking Squamish language immersion program at Simon Fraser University and the Kwi Awt Stelmexw Cultural Society that is a platform for arts and education. He is an authoritative writer and public speaker on issues of Indigenous languages, cultural identity, and governance. Currently a lecturer at Simon Fraser University, he has worked with Indigenous communities in Canada to address the decline of their languages, including the Squamish Language and Halkomelem language.
So much of what we are today and what we are taught to be in our community, is to think of our ancestors, and what they did for us.
