Lyana Patrick is a dynamic, dedicated and delightfully funny person. I met her (what seems like) a long time ago, when she responded to my email about an initiative at UBC’s medical school. After that, we became students together—Lyana in her PhD program and I in my MA—and I was inspired by her commitment to looking at the upstream factors that influence the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island. As a friend, I experience great joy at watching her many accomplishments—including defending her dissertation, gaining tenure and, as Nechako illustrates, creating films that highlight the strengths of Indigenous Peoples and Nations across time, in the face of ongoing settler colonialism.
Lyana is a member of the Stellat’en First Nation and also has Acadian/Scottish ancestry. She is a devoted mother, sister and daughter, and in her downtime can be found having fun as a member of a band, winning at trivia nights and attending live local theatre, IndigE-girl comedy and her son’s hockey games.
-Written by Manjit Chand, Lyana’s friend.
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Which ’hood are you in?
Grandview Woodland.
What do you do?
I’m a researcher at Simon Fraser University, and I love music (sometimes playing it!), running, hiking, watching hockey and hunkering down with a good book when the rain gets to be too much.
What are you currently working on?
I would describe my current creative strategy as “pre-development” for my next documentary (I’m working up the courage to tackle another big topic!), and I’m also working on my first narrative screenplay.
Where can we find your work?
Three of my short films can be found on Knowledge Network, here.
My latest documentary, Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again, is now available for streaming free of charge across Canada on nfb.ca.
Nechako is a crucial documentary that follows two Indigenous Nations fighting for our collective future. When the Kenney Dam in B.C. was built in the 1950s, the Nechako River was forever changed. The Stellat’en and Saik’uz Nations embarked on a groundbreaking legal proceeding against the Canadian government and Rio Tinto Alcan that lasted over a decade—a battle that continues today. Following community members living day to day on the river while they take on powerful institutions, Nechako is an urgent call to action to restore a river and a way of life.
