During my fledgling years as a new immigrant in Vancouver, the first step that I took towards independence was moving out of my aunt’s house and partially trying it out on my own by living with room mates. I had lived in three different apartments with different sets of people, most of whom have become my good friends. On my last year at the last apartment where I stayed at before eventually moving to my own place (a one-bedroom condominium unit that I purchased in an up-and-

The title, “Chief” inspires awe. It denotes status or leadership. In North America, leaders of Indigenous peoples carry the title of “Chief.” When I was a child, the image of a “Chief” in my mind was that of a tall, red-skinned man, dressed in full regalia – an elaborate headdress with eagle feathers or maybe buffalo horns, a buckskin shirt decorated with geometric patterns, a vest with elaborate beadwork, or perhaps, a bone breastplate or a feather bundle, bear claw necklace