The fall semester is already underfoot. Before we know it, our green campus will be shaded with red, yellow, and orange leaves, the skies darkening as the summer sun succumbs to October’s allure. Change is good, yet adjusting back into the school routine doesn’t feel like change at all. But like riding your bike after time away — give me a minute, I remember how this goes.
Hopefully, a similar thing happens for us here at The Cascade, as our burgeoning team reclaims a bi-weekly publication schedule — one our society hasn’t seen in little over a year. The move to monthly last Fall of 2023 was not done lightly. Since then, we have been slowly building our publication to a place where we can comfortably service our readership in a consistent and reliable way. I’m so proud of each and every one of our staff and contributors; it’s their dedication to our campus paper that allows us to continue to build this community and share the stories that come from it.
This issue is of particular importance. Not only is it our last monthly publication, but we sought to uplift Indigenous voices in honour of National Truth and Reconciliation Day on Sept. 30.
The strength of Indigenous resilience can be felt in the feature article (page 10) on Shalaya Valenzuela, a UFV Alumni and Olympic Silver Medallist, from the Tseshaht First Nation on Vancouver Island.
Current student representation is highlighted in the Q&A with UFV women’s soccer Rookie of the Year, Kiana Langston (page 14).
Indigenous knowledge and service is in conversations with our Indigenous Student Centre and Keith Carlson (page 17) showing us all how we can take action in our allyship.
Indigenous sovereignty and right to life remain to be suppressed by the structural makeup of so-called Canada, as we witnessed in the recent loss of Hoss Lightning, a young boy from Samson Cree Nation in Alberta, at the hands of the RCMP. Change is needed, and we must continue to demand it, whether it’s from our universities, our government and policing bodies, or from ourselves.
In reading our eighth issue of 2024, I hope you are informed and inspired. If you ever have something to say, we’d love to hear from you.
Welcome!
