Leigh Joseph & Trevor Dixon Bennett | Canada | 2020
23 min
Co-presented by Hot Docs
SPOTLIGHT EVENT

Styawat/Leigh Joseph is a Sḵwxw̱ú7mesh Nation ethnobotanist. She grew up away from her traditional territory of Squamish, B.C. but in coming to a deeper understanding of her identity as a Sḵwxw̱ú7mesh woman, felt called to move her family home.

As she navigates walking between academic and cultural worlds, she contemplates her relationship with plants and their role as teachers. On the land where her ancestors have harvested since time beyond memory, her life purpose is awakened.

Leigh grew up connected to family and community but always held a longing for the Sḵwxw̱ú7mesh landscape. Through her academic study she has found a path guided by plants and it has led her home.

DIRECTORS BIO

Leigh Joseph

Leigh Joseph (ancestral name Styawat) is a Skwxwú7mesh Nation ethnobotanist and entrepreneur contributing to cultural knowledge renewal of Indigenous plant foods and medicines. Ethnobotany is the study of relationships between people and plants. Through teaching workshops, university courses, and land-based learning opportunities, Leigh aims to expand the renewal of ethnobotanical knowledge and the healing that comes from this connection to place through ancestral ways of knowing. 

https://leighjoseph.com

Trevor Dixon Bennett

Trevor Dixon Bennett is a filmmaker based in Victoria, BC, Canada. Bennett specializes in documenting and communicating the intersection of culture and the environment. Holding a Masters degree in environmental studies specializing in Ethnoecology, Bennett started Kingtide Films in 2015. https://kingtidefilms.ca