This post was written by Mariam Al Barazi our new PEC and FEELed Lab new Community Development Coordinator and FEELed Lab member Jamie Stevens.
As we planned the October plant people gathering, we knew with both the municipal and provincial elections on the horizon that it was an essential moment to remind all the newly elected officials of their responsibilities to the Land. It was time for a good old fashion letter writing night, with some Plant People swag – Okanagan native plant seeds and the newly created but already iconic zine by neela rader.
We started the evening by packaging native seeds, including the Golden Aster, the Golden Rod, the Nodding Onion, the Blanket Flower, and Pearly Everlastings. We recycled torn book pages into little envelopes to pack the seeds. We then put together A Beginner’s Guide to Native Plants zine, designed by our community member, Neela (You can also save the image below, print, and zine it out yourself to share with your community!). We also set up more t-shirt printing for those who couldn’t grab one at our first Plant People Gathering.
We discussed which candidates attended different community events, including the Kelowna Climate Coalition (KCC) Cooling Kelowna event on October 7th, where candidates answered questions about their climate action. We also discussed the candidates’ different backgrounds, particularly those who had spent their time cultivating the land. I was personally sad that Trevor McAleese didn’t win one of the seats as a city councillor. Although I am a non-voter (pain point for all politically inclined international students 💔), I’ve been following his campaign since he ran in the prior municipal elections.
Based on those discussions and folks’ personal interests, we wrote letters to the respective municipal and provincial elected leaders and included various native seeds and zines in the envelopes. We sent both letters of support and more scathing letters to keep defending land rights at the forefront of their minds.
