By: Petra Chase, Arts & Culture Editor
I’ve spent plenty of hot days biking along the seawall, exploring Xwayxway’s (Stanley Park) lush forests, and spotting salmon berries and squirrels by the lagoon. Even so, I realized I’ve only scratched the surface of what lies in this colossal park (bigger than downtown Vancouver!) after a digital guided tour of Áx̱achu7 (Beaver Lake).
Since 2002, Indigenous-operated Talaysay Tours has promoted “culture revitalization, land-based education, and reclamation” on the land belonging to the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples. Xwayxway has been their “gathering place and home” for thousands of years. Talaysay Tours’ new app, which launched on June 30, is an exciting milestone — it’s a more accessible option, so more people can experience their captivating tours and learn about “Indigenous culture, geography, history, and language.”
The app currently features two tours, which guide you as you walk the location or explore from home: the Talking Trees tour and the Talking Totems tour. Located respectively at Áx̱achu7 (Beaver Lake) and Pápiy̓eḵ (Brockton Point), you can visit both in one day with a picnic pit stop. The app also has educational games, like matching trees to their pine cones, and an online gift shop. I took the tour on location.
After a warm introduction video, Talking Trees directed me through a forested trail to a path around the lake, abundant with ecological life. The app is simple and intuitive, with bite-sized videos that appear alongside an interactive map. I was impressed with the location accuracy on the app; as soon as a stop was reached, a video would play, and a guide would point out a specific tree, berry, or plant right next to where you’re standing, before explaining its traditional use.
Parts of the tour were hands-on, allowing you to discover things for yourself. For instance, you’re told to flip over a pálápa (sword fern) to find red spores, which are traditionally used for tenderizing and flavoring meat. This is followed by a story about how children would make a game out of counting the leaves. I learned the names and uses of many fascinating plants, like the frog leaf plantain. These chunky leaves are known to eliminate infections in “record time” and also act as an antihistamine.
I enjoyed learning about how trees are connected and giving in their own unique ways. It was a reminder of how much wisdom they hold, being centuries old. I crumbled the bark of a red alder with my fingertips, which left a copper-red stain, as the guide explained one of its traditional uses as a red pigment. I also learned how to identify a western hemlock by its soft leaves, and that you can eat a few pines as a source of vitamin C.
The lake is a beautiful wetland covered with lily pads, and if you’re lucky, you might spot a frog (I did!). There’s also a variety of birds, and the melodic chirps of the song sparrow followed me as I walked. Being able to do the tour at my own pace was especially nice, as I got to stop at the bird sanctuary bridge, “Grand Central Station” for birds, and observe the black-capped chickadees. The experience took me about an hour.
The tour videos were filmed in the winter, so not all the berries or plants were in-season. Talaysay Tours is now raising funds to complete the spring/summer-specific edition of the tour. “The new shoots are about to come out, our berries will soon start to flower and we want to be there capturing it all with our guides,” they explained on their Kickstarter page. I still look forward to going back in the winter to feel the waxy white snowberries. As a single-purchase app, you can return to these lessons anytime at no extra cost!
With 18 spots along the trail, there is much to be excited about. Looking up close at the intricacies of the plants and learning from Indigenous wisdom reignited my curiosity about nature. Talaysay Tours promotes the idea that “we are the land and the land is us.” I am extremely grateful to have been able to learn that message through experience, and look forward to taking the Talking Totems tour next!
The Talaysay Tours app can be purchased through App Store or Google Play for $25. Follow Talaysay Tours on Instagram at @talaysay_tours and check out their website for more information.
