MEET INDIGENOUS CULTURAL HISTORIAN AND ENTREPRENEUR LISA PAULL
Ts’eláselwet - Lisa Paull (she/her)
Indigenous Cultural Historian | Professional Auntie | Indigenization Consultant | Creator and Director Indigenous Services and Program Development | Educator, Instructor, Communicator | Grant Writer | People and Processes Director and Manager | Public Speaker | Project Manager
Lisa holds a Master of Indigenous Education, Administration, and Leadership from the University of British Columbia, a Bachelor of Arts degree with a specialization in chemical addictions and counseling from the University of Fraser Valley, and an Advanced Diploma in Chemical Addictions from Nicola Valley Institute of Technology.
Lisa’s extensive professional career includes working with the Justice Institute of British Columbia as the Director of Programs & Services of New Relationship Trust and with the Four Host First Nations Society (FHFN) during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Lisa’s business name is still in development, but its purpose is clear. It is: Ta xwts'íwaniyalh chet, or “A Place for Healing our People.”
On a meta-level, Lisa's business serves as a place where Indigenous people can connect, heal, and find Indigenous cultural history, services, and programs for Indigenous communities; where colonial businesses can receive consulting on workshops, seminars, and program development to Indigenize working environments and corporate structures.
At its core, “A Place for Healing our People” is Lisa’s dream to teach and help Indigenous people find pieces of their culture and connection to spirit and the land, provide Indigenous people a place to go when they feel disconnected, and make Indigenous ways of knowing and being actionable in business practices.
“The dream for my business is that it’s a place for people to come to if they’re looking for little tidbits and pieces of what their culture is and what it looks like; how they can reconnect to spirit and to the land, so they have a place to go when they feel disconnected. I want my business to be a place for connection.” - Lisa Paull
MORE ABOUT LISA
Lisa is from the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nation (Squamish First Nation), and her ancestral name is Ts’eláselwet. Lisa loves being in ceremony and while she hasn’t been called to be a Sun Dancer yet, she is a strong supporter and loves being there and whole new vibration it creates.
Like many Indigenous people, Lisa wasn’t born into Indigenous culture and ceremony. She grew up disconnected from many aspects of her cultural roots among the Colonial system that has ravaged and destroyed Indigenous families and communities for centuries.
Lisa’s story is one of resilience: a healing journey of overcoming vicious cycles in life and finding her way to ceremony and pathway to healing. While a challenging journey, it's a way of life Lisa loves, is inspired by, and, simply put in Lisa’s words, “The journey to here has been beautiful.”
Lisa grew up in North Vancouver, in the village of Utslawn. Both of her parents are residential school survivors. She is one of nine children and is the third youngest. Her childhood experience was in a tumultuous, broken family home with cycles of intergenerational trauma and addiction. After being introduced to alcohol at a young age and living in constant survival mode, Lisa realized she needed to make “a huge, drastic change.”
Over a decade ago, says Lisa “I began participating in anything ceremony related as much as I could.” She has been in somewhat of a training position, practicing the ways of ceremony and helping her community on their healing journey, learning from two auties she admires who shared their generational knowledge.
When Lisa’s father's health declined quickly, these aunties were there to give Lisa and her siblings their ancestral names before passing, providing their knowledge while the siblings worked together to honor their father’s request.
Lisa now passes on that same knowledge to her daughter and niece, sharing the space in sweat lodges or showering them in sacred baths (shoquams?) off the beaten path in their valley - “the tools of where you go and what do to take care of your[self] physically, mentally, spiritually, and emotionally.”
“Creating legacy pieces with my embroidery machine and my sewing machine and helping people dress and get ready for ceremony, memorials, or naming - whatever they need to use those pieces for - I want to help them to connect to who they are and where they come from.” - Lisa Paull
Lisa’s business ethos is informed by her love of Indigenous Cultural History, Indigenous ways of knowing, creativity, crafting skills, and servicing and helping Indigenous communities. Her love of Indigenous cultural history, Indigenous ways of knowing, and help to support Indigenous communities to heal and grow are interwoven with Lisa’s skills, experiences, and extensive knowledge to create a place for meaningful connection, development, and growth in Indigenous communities and the individuals therein.
Giving is one way to characterize Lisa’s character, who often crafts ribbon skirts and hand-crafted items for ceremony, simply gifting these items and legacy pieces. With embroidery and sewing machines in tow, Lisa’s legacy pieces will take on new artistic, personalizable forms, each with a deep connection to her grandmother's love and skill of sewing and crafting items and informed by knowledge passed down through her extended family.
Currently, Lisa is deeply drawn to support and work with a variety of Indigenous youths reclaiming their Indigeneity and Indigenous culture of knowing and being, bringing young Indigenous people back into the resilient communities they’ve long been disconnected from through various colonial cultural and structural systems.
While working with people directly is where Lisa is currently making her impact, her motivation and deep connection to Indigenous youth reclaiming their Indigeneity and returning to the community has Lisa dreaming of collaborating on children’s books helping future generations live lives connected to their culture, with a legacy that will last for generations of young Indigenous people to learn from and pass on to the next generation.
“I think about legacy because my late grandfather, who was actually my uncle, but I grew up knowing him as my grandfather - was so knowledgeable in our language, culture, and history. He left all of these amazing documents behind and I kind of follow in his footsteps, but with my own ideas of the culture, the language, and helping connect to the land toward healing.
Lisa's Impact Statement
While working with people directly is where Lisa is currently making her impact, her motivation and deep connection to Indigenous youth reclaiming their Indigeneity and returning to the community has Lisa dreaming of collaborating on children’s books helping future generations live lives connected to their culture, with a legacy that will last for generations of young Indigenous people to learn from and pass on to the next generation.
When her life story is written, Lisa’s legacy will be her impact on future generations as Auntie Lisa, a cultural historian with deep generational wisdom and knowledge from her grandparents, helped reconnect Indigenous youths helping them learn who they are and find themselves and a person who created places and spaces for Indigenous communities to connect and heal from Colonialism’s systemic traumas.
“I want my legacy to be my books, sharing the history knowledge, but…starting with preschool and elementary, and just share those beautiful messages to that next generation. A lot of our elders are going…at a rapid pace. So if we could just start there and plant the seeds, and then the next generation’s skills can develop.” - Lisa Paull
What's Next?
Lisa is taking steps to build each avenue of her business ranging from in-person education and Indigenizing colonial corporate structures to crafting for ceremony and creating children’s books to help Indigenous youth remain connected, or reconnect with who they are. Lisa's enduring legacy will include teaching future generations of young Indigenous people the cultural values and Indigenous ways of knowing and being they've long been disconnected from.
Lisa’s business and future include making lasting intergenerational changes, creating a place for Indigenous people to connect and reclaim their identities, and reconnecting with their communities, spirit, and the land. The business will help colonial businesses Indigenize and honour Indigeneity.
In the largest sense, Lisa’s business is truly a Ta xwts'íwaniyalh chet: “A Place for Healing our People.”
“Lisa is the type of leader her ancestors would have prayed for. Leading with integrity. Honouring and preserving traditional knowledge. Aiming to use her gifts to support family, community and the people she works with. It is people like Lisa who are co-creating the conditions for decolonizing places and spaces a reality.” - Vanessa Lesperance, LIFT Circle Lead
The LIFTing Your Leadership program brings together a cohort of 12 entrepreneurs for a combination of business development activities and relational resources co-created by The Indigenous LIFT Collective and co-facilitated by guest Indigenous Aunties bi-weekly.
These stories have been crafted in co-creation with the entrepreneur via the Amplify program which provides a combination of listening sessions and story coaching to create a digital profile for each cohort member. The Amplify portion of the project ensures Indigenous peoples and their perspectives are celebrated, seen and heard.
reGEN media will be creating a six-minute documentary to showcase hope, possibility, and the potential of collaborative partnerships to contribute towards Economic Reconciliation.
The co-creation of this impact initiative in its entirety is supported and made possible with our funding partners, Sunshine Coast Insurance Services Inc. and the Sunshine Coast Credit Union with the support of the Co-operators Advisor Community Fund. The Co-operators Advisor Community Fund supplements Financial Advisors’ donations to their community to help address unmet social, economic, and environmental needs, and build resilient communities for Canadians.
FOLLOW AND CONNECT WITH LISA HERE:
