Jazmine, also known as Ts̓qáxa7, was gifted her traditional Ucwalmícwts name by her late grandfather, Chief Fraser Andrew. She is Sinhalese from Sri Lanka on her maternal side and St̓át̓imc from the Lil̓wat Nation on her father’s side.
While completing her studies at UBC, Jazmine continues to engage with her community through being a šxʷta:təχʷəm advisor at the First Nations Longhouse. She loves expressing herself through art and is most drawn to painting, beadwork, and poetry. Jazmine is in her second year, majoring in the First Nations Indigenous Studies program with the Institute of Critical Indigenous Studies.
We interviewed Jazmine about the artwork she created for the Indigenous Symbols and Signifiers initiative, which answers the question: What symbols represent belonging in your culture? Here’s what Jazmine has to say.
About Jazmine and her inspiration
Kalhwá7alap nsnek̓wnúk̓wa7. Éntsa sTs̓qáxa7 skwátsits. Sama7 nskwátsits Jazmine Andrew. Lil̓watémclhkan pala7míntwal̓ i ucwalmícwa múta7 ti tmicwa, Úcwalmicwckan múta7 St̓at̓yemckan, pála7 ecw7úcwalmicw i St̓at̓yemc. Kúkwstumckacw ti tmicwa ilti Musqueam. (Hello, my traditional Ucwalmícwts name is Ts̓qáxa7, and my given name is Jazmine Andrew. I’m from the Lil̓wat Nation, which is one of the St̓at̓yemc Nations, part of Interior Salish unceded territories here in so-called British Columbia. I am also Sinhalese from Sri Lanka on my mom’s side. I give thanks to the Musqueam territory, and the Musqueam people being the caretakers of the land that we study on at UBC.)
I am currently a second-year undergraduate student at UBC majoring in First Nations Indigenous Studies (FNIS). Soon, I’ll be changing my major to Visual Art and then minoring in FNIS.
Jazmine's artwork
Original artwork created by Jazmine that honours her ancestry, traditional teachings, and territory.
Ts̓zil (Mount Currie)
View of Ts̓zil from Lil̓wat Nation in the Pemberton Valley. Photo provided by Jazmine.
Jazmine drumming
Photo provided by Jazmine.
Jazmine's drum
"The drum is like a heartbeat, but it’s also a part of your spirit..." Photo provided by Jazmine.
Eagle in the wild
Photo provided by Jazmine.
Nothing wasted, everything honoured
I was really excited about this project. All of the things that I chose to include in my final piece have meaning to me and symbolize how I view who I am and where I come from. You can see the sweat lodge and a horse. My name means horse in our language, so I wanted to include that. I’ve grown up in the sweat lodge and knowing that way of life will always ground me. Our reservation and our territory goes throughout the Pemberton Valley, and the mountain that you can see from everywhere is Mount Currie or Ts’zil in our language. We’re surrounded by mountains, we’re like fully in the mountains, so it’s really special and I included the river that’s right by our house.
I had a bunch of what I guess would be scraps from my buckskin dress and cedar bark scraps that I chose to use. This was kind of my first time experimenting with multimedia work. I’ve never just glued buckskin on a canvas, but I was happy with how it turned out and how it represented a little piece of home. In our culture, we try not to waste anything. We use every piece of the animal and every part of the tree that we harvest.
Where the community comes together
Eagle painted by Jazmine
I used the eagle kind of to represent my grandfather. Eagles are seen as a spiritual animal in our culture. Always a good sign. Whenever I see an eagle I think about my grandfather. My grandfather was the late Chief Fraser Andrew. He was very respected in our community. Everybody knew him, lots of people ceremonied with him. A lot of the teachings that I carry with me are all things that I learned from him, and growing up with him in the sweat lodge. It’s a way of taking care of ourselves, praying for ourselves, your family, your community, and your ancestors. That’s why there are four rounds.
Sweat lodge painted by Jazmine
It’s been a big part of my life. I was in the sweat lodge before I was even born; while my mom was pregnant with me, I was in my grandpa’s sweat lodge. Just having that connection to my family through their lodge, it really brings people and community together. It’s a really special way to take care of each other and honour who we are, too. My grandfather is a big part of who I am, so that’s why I included the sweat lodge and the eagle.
“In our culture, we don't waste anything. I had some scraps from the process of making my buckskin dress and regalia, which I used as hair on the horse in the painting. I also had some cedar bark scraps that I used to form the sweat lodge, and I created beadwork that I attached to the horse as well.”
Drumming to the heartbeat of home
I’ve been an advisor at šxʷta:təχʷəm and it’s been really special to have community at school. The name šxʷta:təχʷəm means home away from home and it really does feel like a home away from home. One of my favorite parts from this past year has definitely been the drum circle, just coming together. Everyone’s cultures are so different. We all have so many different teachings and stories and songs that we can share with each other. It’s really beautiful to just come together and share who we are and celebrate who we are as well.
Drum painted by Jazmine
Carrying a drum is like carrying part of your spirit as well, it’s part of you, it’s part of your spirit when you carry a drum with you. The drum that I included in the painting, I wanted to honor that drum because l’ve let it go now. I had it for a while but yeah I burnt it and I gave it back to the spirits. So yeah I included that in the painting. The red handprint that you see on it is to honour the women from our community. There’s four butterflies on it as well to honour the four directions.
