Camas Bookstore and Infoshop - Name and Symbolism

Name and Symbolism

The collective is named in honour of the camas plant (camassia quamash), which was once cultivated and harvested as a root vegetable by the local Lekwungen prior to European settlement. With the arrival of European settlers and colonialism, the harvest quickly came to an end as the camas meadows in the region were largely destroyed by the settlers’ cattle grazing practices, as well as the encroachment of the settlers’ agricultural lands and eventually urbanization. More recently, efforts have been made to revive the harvest. The camas flower thus signifies the importance of acknowledging the history of colonization in the territory on which the bookstore is situated, as well as the ongoing struggles against colonialism today. The collective envisions the camas flower one day being able to blossom forth from beneath the pavement that now restrains it, flourishing on this land once again. The symbol of the camas also captures the importance of ecological struggle as well as local sustenance and food security as central aspects of the broader struggles against capitalism and colonialism.