Alumni Panelist: Lives Well Lived
Friday, Nov. 26, 2021 | 1 to 3:30pm
The Alex & Jo Campbell Centre for Health and Wellness
Interurban Campus, Camosun College
STOLȻEȽ (John Elliot) is a respected Elder from the W̱JOȽEȽP Tsartlip First Nation who played a pivotal role in the preservation and revitalization of the SENĆOŦEN language. He is a historian, mentor, language warrior, traditional knowledge keeper and a gifted teacher.
For over 40 years, he taught at the ÁU, WELṈEW̱ Tribal School, immersing students from kindergarten to Grade 10 in the SENĆOŦEN language. He now teaches adult students who are working on their education degrees through UVic and the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board. Over the years, he also taught classes and supported many projects at UVic and Camosun College focusing on Indigenous knowledge, culture and language revitalization. For the past eight years, he has been teaching a land and language course in the Indigenous Studies program at the college.
At Camosun, Elliott hosted the very first Indigenous education conference, S’TENISTOLW, in 2007. The conference name is a SENCOTEN term referencing the idea and act of moving forward. SENCOTEN is the ancestral language of the WSANEC people, one of the nations upon whose traditional territories Camosun is located. This term and its significance, bestowed by Elliot, has underpinned the approach to all of Camosun’s Indigenous conferences ever since.
Camosun students, employees and the community can share in the learning experience either in person or by watching it live-streamed on Camosun’s YouTube channel.