Superhero's and Stops Signs
Content note: This post includes references to the physical, mental, and sexual abuse Indigenous people experienced for speaking their languages.
Last week I saw posts about the new stop sign in Tsawwassen, written in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓. Some people were celebrating it. Others had a lot to say about why it shouldn't be there. George was watching the same conversation, and he had something to say too.
Uy skweyul siiye'yu (Good day friends),
I hope this finds you and your loved ones well.
At the beginning of September I saw a news clip from CBC News about the new Marvel's Wolverine video game. This sparked my interest right away, because I am a fan of both video games and Wolverine, and I have been for a long time. In the clip, the story was highlighting some of the landmarks in Vancouver, specifically the Sea to Sky Highway. What caught my attention most was that the game included Sḵwx̱wú7mesh sníchim (the Squamish language) on the signage along that highway.
I think this is a win. Not just for the Squamish Nation, but for Indigenous people across Turtle Island. This is representation of our Indigenous people in pop culture and beyond, and it matters more than people might realize. In all my years of gaming, I haven't seen many accurate representations of our Indigenous cultures. Mostly what I've seen are over exaggerated, romanticized depictions of Indigenous people, the kind that flatten us into a stereotype rather than showing who we actually are.
What's different here is authenticity. Insomniac Games didn't just add a token nod to Indigenous presence, they respected the real signage that exists on that highway, in the real language of the people whose land it is. That is a small thing to some, but it is a big thing to Indigenous people. It tells our young people that our languages belong in the same spaces as superheroes, cities, and stories the whole world is watching. Huge shoutout to Insomniac Games for that.
We are starting to see our languages represented in current day life. On road signs. In video games. In the world as it is lived right now. This matters because it reminds people that we are here, we haven't gone anywhere, and we are not going anywhere. Our languages have been on these lands since time immemorial, and they will be here forever.
But not everyone sees it that way, and that's the other side of this conversation I want to share with you.
I recently saw an article on Facebook from 604NOW about the stop signs at Tsawwassen Mills. The signs are displayed in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, the language spoken by the people in the Tsawwassen territory. Those signs have been up since September 2025, and now there is concern coming forward from some in the local community about them.
I'll be honest with you. A lot of the comments I've seen about those signs are hurtful and rooted in racism, whether people realize it or not. I think it is foolish to say a sign should come down simply because someone doesn't understand it or can't read it. A big, bright red octagon is one of the most recognized symbols in North America. It means stop. If someone genuinely doesn't understand that a red octagon means stop, regardless of what language is written on it, I'd gently suggest they reconsider whether they should be driving at all. We already rely on color and shape to communicate on the road without a single word being read. Green means go. Yellow means slow down and pay attention, the light is changing. Red means stop. These are non-verbal indicators that everyone learns and trusts long before they ever read the word printed on the sign.
In the summer of 2025, Sean and I were in We Wai Kai, and we noticed something beautiful. Their stop signs, on their own lands, are written in their own language. I remember feeling how right that felt. It is a reminder that Indigenous people belong here, that our languages are not something to be tolerated in the margins, but something that can exist plainly, proudly, in the everyday places we all move through.
So here is what I'll ask of you, with as much warmth as I can put into these words. If you can, take the time to learn our languages, even a little. Something as simple as learning how to pronounce the word for stop is an easy place to start. It won't hurt you. I know this because Indigenous people learned the language of the people who settled here, out of necessity, and often out of survival. You are reading this message right now in a language that is foreign to this land.
And if you make a mistake while you're learning, I want you to know that you will not be punished for it. You will not be physically, mentally, or sexually abused the way our people were for speaking, or for simply existing as who we are. Your life will not be cut short the way so many of our people's lives were. Learning a few words, in comparison, asks so little of you. And it gives so much back, to the language, to the people who have carried it this far, and to the relationship we are all trying to build together on these lands.
Huy ch q'u | Thank you
Wholwolet'za | George Harris Jr
George's words have stayed with me: we are here, we haven't gone anywhere, and we are not going anywhere. That's the truth this sign is pointing to, plain as a red octagon.
🧡 Kim + the CC Team
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