Hello everyone!

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Lilly Mclellan, and I am a fourth year biology student who is also attempting a minor in English literature. Although many of my classmates and professors consider my degree to be an odd combination of academic focuses, my passion for literature, history, and writing made it so that I was seemingly incapable of ending my English studies beyond my first year at UBC. I am particularly grateful to have pursued an education here considering the schools location on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people, as the rich history of the campus and the resources of the longhouse have allowed me to develop a greater connection to my own heritage. I am Métis-Canadian from the Red River Settlement in Manitoba, and grew up living in the Northern interior of British Columbia. Here, I was fortunate enough to be immersed in the culture of the Secwepemc people, as the sharing of traditions and history of the First Nations people was considered very important in my community. Thus, it may not be surprising that I have developed a passion for learning more about the first voices of Canada, and the remembrance of these voices.

As I begin my final semester at UBC, it seems fitting that I will be finishing my degree with a Canadian literature course such as English 372. During these next few months we will explore the contrasting ways that history may be told by different cultures, by considering the divergence between the intergenerational storytelling of Indigenous people and archival documentation of European settlers. This will allow us to confront the complex issue that is the historical ‘voice,’ as well as examine the importance of storytelling in history and culture. Our studies together will allow us to develop perspective lenses with which we may more acutely analyze future literary readings, and actively pursue the decolonization of Canadian narratives. I look forward to furthering my experience with Indigenous literature while working with the unique structure of the course, despite being almost entirely technologically-inept.

Despite my serious lack of website-making skills, I remain a member of a technology-obsessed generation and believe that the internet carries significant importance in the sharing of stories and further, the hearing of voices that may otherwise have gone unnoticed. This goes beyond current events and contemporary problems, as the web has also become a source of sharing traditional languages, art, music, recipes, history, and so much more. For example, First Voices is a page which promotes the archiving of traditional First Nation languages, so that they may be experienced by youth and future generations despite their diminishing use in everyday life. Websites such as this promote the sharing of culture and tradition with many who may not have the opportunity to experience it otherwise, and only further my faith in the internet as a tool for enrichment. Due to this, the form of English 372 as being an online course structured around collaborative blogging and sharing seems ultimately appropriate, and I look forward to learning with you all.

Works Cited

First Voices. First Peoples’ Cultural Council, https://www.firstvoices.com/home.

McCall, Sophie. First Person Plural: Aboriginal Storytelling and the Ethics of Collaborative Authorship.” UBC Press, 15 May 2011, https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=t1O4OiXQQpsC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=storytelling+first+nations&ots=Tt61p1dR5m&sig=7q5NCD5WZ5rf03Ok6PGb7JJd7w4&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=storytelling%20first%20nations&f=false.

Smith, Christine. “Indigenous Literature: Diversity and Importance.” All Lit Up, 22 Oct. 2014, https://alllitup.ca/Blog/2014/Indigenous-Literature-Diversity-and-Importance.