Feb 27, 2025
A Musqueam Perspective on Recreation
This video presentation, created and delivered by Courtenay Gibson, a Member of the Musqueam Indian Band and the Manager of Musqueam Recreation, was part of the Recreation Studies Special Topics course: RECR 2295: Recreation Reimagined. While this presentation was delivered within the course, it was open for all students and faculty to attend.
Drawing on her 16 years of experience managing Musqueam Recreation, Courtenay thoughtfully shares her perspectives on how recreation is more than just leisure—it is a means of sustaining cultural identity, strengthening community bonds, and caring for both people and the land. She explores the role of traditional knowledge and the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ language in shaping recreation, emphasizing how language carries values, teachings, and ways of being that are inseparable from Musqueam identity. The presentation also delves into the significance of the gift economy in Indigenous communities and challenges conventional ideas of recreation by showcasing practices like canoeing, weaving, and regalia making as acts of intergenerational learning, land stewardship, and cultural resurgence.