Big Ideas: Chief Dr. Janice George in Conversation with Curator Pantea Haghighi

Location: West Vancouver Memorial Library

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Curator Pantea Haghighi of the West Vancouver Art Museum sits down with Coast Salish weaver and educator Chepximiya Siyam’ Chief Dr. Janice George to discuss how traditional weaving serves as a living practice of cultural preservation, healing, and intergenerational knowledge.

The evening will begin with a Traditional Welcome offered by Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Elder Skwetsimeltxw Willard (Buddy) Joseph.

Chepximiya Siyam’ Chief Dr. Janice George is from a prominent Squamish family and has numerous ceremonial and cultural responsibilities within her community. She graduated from Capilano University and the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is a hereditary chief, a trained museum curator and educator, and co-curator and co-designer of the Squamish and Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, BC., and the new Vancouver Art Gallery. Chief Dr. Janice George received the Squamish Nation Excellence Award for CULTURE and the national Dreamcatcher Award in 2010, for her outstanding contributions to the community in arts and culture. Since the age of 18, her formal and informal job has been to interview, record, and learn from the Squamish Nation Elders, her most honoured teachings. Chief Dr. Janice George received her Honorary Doctorate from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in 2025 for her dedication to sharing Coast Salish weaving and culture with her community and the world.

Pantea Haghighi is the Administrator/Curator at the West Vancouver Art Museum and Curator in Residence at the Vancouver Art Gallery in Vancouver, BC. Haghighi is a Doctoral student at Simon Fraser University. Her research focuses on modernism in architecture and visual arts in relation to vernacular politics. Her expertise in contemporary art has supported her contribution to community development in Canadian institutions. Haghighi utilizes her experience collaborating with individuals from various cultural backgrounds to bring communities together, creating spaces that encourage discussion and exchanging ideas.

Skwetsimeltxw Willard (Buddy) Joseph is an esteemed Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Elder and master weaver. He is the co-founder of the L’hen Awtxw Weaving House. Buddy is the former director of the Squamish Housing and Capital Projects and currently consults on capital projects for First Nations communities. He is the co-author of the book, Salish Blankets: Robes of Protection and Transformation, Symbols of Wealth.