Rooted in Reasoning
with Tannis Reis
Connecting Story, Place, & Language
A curated learning collection bringing family history, shellfish transplanting, language, geography, science and stewardship into relationship through the words of Knowledge Holder Squtxulenuhw (George Seymour).
Geoduck - King of All
Stories carry knowledge through relationships to people, places, language, and lived experience. To help make those relationships visible, I worked with a story shared by Squtulenuhw (George Seymour), transforming it into a classroom-ready learning resource while keeping the Knowledge Holder and his words at the centre of the experience.
The transcription of the story was one part of a much larger project. I curated information, media and research related to geoduck, connecting Hul̓q̓umín̓um̓ language, science, geography, harvesting practices, archaeology, environmental stewardship and contemporary social issues.
A central part of this work involved finding and evaluating many different pieces, recognizing the relationships among them, and transforming complex or scattered material into classroom- and student-friendly ways of entering the learning.
Why it mattered
Educators often encounter useful stories, research, media and community knowledge as separate pieces. Making them usable requires more than collecting links: it requires careful selection, organization, contextualization and translation into meaningful learning possibilities.
This project brought those pieces into relationship around Squtxulenuhw’s story. It created multiple entry points through which learners could explore language, place, history, ecology and stewardship without separating those subjects from the people and relationships that give them meaning.
My Role in the Project
Story recording & Transcription • Resource Design • Research • Mapping • Orthography and Language Support
map of key transplanting locations (created by Tannis)
What was hidden
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Valuable material was dispersed across stories, research, media, maps and community knowledge.
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Connections among language, geography, ecology, history and stewardship were not immediately visible.
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Educators would need considerable time to assess, organize and adapt the available material.
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The wider learning possibilities surrounding the story could easily be missed.
What became visible
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A Knowledge Holder’s story became the central anchor for a larger collection of learning resources.
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Related sources were curated and organized into meaningful areas of inquiry.
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Maps, language supports and pronunciation guidance made important relationships easier to notice.
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Complex information was translated into approachable classroom and student entry points.
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The connections among different curricular areas became more explicit.
What became possible
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Educators could enter the topic through different grades, subjects and learning goals.
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Learners could explore language, science, geography, history and stewardship together.
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Teachers gained usable materials without having to assemble the entire learning pathway themselves.
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Inquiry was supported while maintaining the story and Knowledge Holder’s voice at its centre.
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Learners could pursue different questions while remaining connected to a shared context.
