Spílexm: A Weaving of Recovery, Resilience, and Resurgence

by Nicola I. Campbell

Overview

If the hurt and grief we carry is a woven blanket, it is time to weave ourselves anew.

In the Nłeʔkepmxcín language, spíləx̣m are remembered stories, often shared over tea in the quiet hours between Elders. Rooted within the British Columbia landscape, and with an almost tactile representation of being on the land and water, Spíləx̣m explores resilience, reconnection, and narrative memory through stories.

Captivating and deeply moving, this story basket of memories tells one Indigenous woman’s journey of overcoming adversity and colonial trauma to find strength through creative works and traditional perspectives of healing, transformation, and resurgence.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781553799351
Publisher:	Portage & Main Press
Publication date:	09/28/2021
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.94(d)
Lexile:	HL880L (what's this?)

About the Author

Nicola I. Campbell is the author of Shi-shi-etko, Shin-chi’s Canoe, Grandpa’s Girls, and A Day with Yayah. Nłeʔkepmx, Syílx, and Métis, from British Columbia, her stories weave cultural and land-based teachings that focus on respect, endurance, healing, and reciprocity.

Nicola's books have been among the finalists for numerous children’s literary awards. Shin-chi’s Canoe won the 2009 TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award and was a 2008 Governor General's Award for Illustration finalist.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Prairie Letters

• February 4, 1973
• April 5, 1973
• July 1, 1973
• July 26, 1973

Her Blood Is From Sptétkw

• sptétkw
• fried bologna and rice
• yellow house
• Speed Sew
• hamburger stew
• lullabies
• buckle-up shoes
• Little People
• c̓əlc̓ále
• alpine mountains
• frog whisperers
• cousin cluster

Métis

• Saskatchewan
• La Ronge
• Mooshoom
• Back to Batoche, 1985

Nłeʔkepmxcín Lullaby

• skíxzeʔ transforms
• Cəceʔ and Sínciʔ
• Rockstar Hair
• K̓éceʔ Tea
• University of British Columbia
• Blackout
• for the party
• Tmíxw—This Land
• Grandpa’s Corrals
• Learning to Heal
• i am sorry
• it is okay.
• the same as trees

Land Teachings

• Métis
• Beginnings
• Prayer Warriors
• gathering
• gathering songs
• sn’ix’wam

Coming to My Senses

• The land, we are woven together like strands of light
• tmíxw. temexw. temxulaxw.
• Porcupine Song
• snow on the mountains
• Salish Dancer
• The Kingfisher’s Dance
• race day
• quw’utsun

sorrow

• September 16, 1998, 10:15 pm
• deer stew
• i dreamt of you last night
• tracks
• little brown
• September 24, 1998
• October 1, 1999, 10:15 pm
• With Each Stroke of My Paddle

yémit and merímstn

• Teapot Hill
• this trail
• unceded
• Huckleberries Are My Weakness
• medicine song
• pressure canner rhythms
• sx̣wúsm
• Spring Chicken
• going home
• come inside
• wildflowers
• nkéxw
• tmíxw
• A Gathering of Stones
• the riverbed is home

this body is a mountain, this body is the land

• as sisters
• Scw̓éxmx
• May 20, 2000
• Adanac Trail

Resurgence

• The Trail
• Stories Are Alive
• Why Am I Writing This?
• Run
• I Believe in the Power of Prayer
• We Are Their Prayers Come to Life
• Reweave the Universe
• Offering

Acknowledgements

Glossary

Index

Editorial Reviews

Among Ms. Magazine's Reads for the Rest of Us list

Ms. Magazine

A powerful memoir.

Prairie Books Now (PBN)

Highly Recommended!

Debbie Reesen Indians in Children's Literature (AICL)

Among The White Ravens' 2022 A Selection of International Children‘s and Youth Literature

The White Raven

Among CBC Books Best Books of 2021 Canadian Nonfiction

CBC Books

Spílǝxm is a putting away of pain, a letting go of sorrow, a poignant unburdening, and a return to self and community. With it, Campbell establishes herself as a visionary with the capacity to gather what is broken and weave it into a new story.

Quill & Quire

This is a terrific tale, peppered with some lovely poetry and deep philosophical convictions: raise your arms in strength and humility. The Nations of British Columbia practise this every day. We commit to strength and humility. We are humble before Star Nations and strong for one another. Nicola Campbell gets this. She is descended from two distinct Indigenous peoples: those that hold their arms and those that serve one another. Nicola braids these two cultures together and bequeaths the result to all of us and to the world. Loaded with history, rich in story, and lovely in its poetics.

Lee Maracle Si’Yam

Highly Recommended!

American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) - Debbie Reese

This is a terrific tale, peppered with some lovely poetry and deep philosophical convictions: raise your arms in strength and humility. The Nations of British Columbia practise this every day. We commit to strength and humility. We are humble before Star Nations and strong for one another. Nicola Campbell gets this. She is descended from two distinct Indigenous peoples: those that hold their arms and those that serve one another. Nicola braids these two cultures together and bequeaths the result to all of us and to the world. Loaded with history, rich in story, and lovely in its poetics.

Lee Maracle Si’Yam