The Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society (VAHMS) and explorASIAN Festival are hosted by and largely attended on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded land and shared territories of the sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), the sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) nations in the city colonially known as Vancouver. We honour the ancestors of this land and the continual stewardship enacted by the host nations and are deeply grateful for the opportunity and privilege of living and working on these lands .
We also acknowledge that the recognition and appreciation of Indigenous Peoples by Asian Canadian communities is not as widespread as it should be. Indigenous Peoples have given much wisdom and strength to Asian Canadian communities now and in the past. We are working to increase awareness on this lost history by engaging more with Indigenous Peoples and educating ourselves. Although it is just the beginning for VAHMS, we hope to expand our programming to include the culture and arts space shared between Asian Canadian communities and Indigenous Communities.
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