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鈥淚 got to really know Larry when he came to talk to Masters in Publishing students at 天美mv天美 in orientation week a number of years ago,鈥� says Scott Steedman, Senior Lecturer. 鈥淟arry kept us all spellbound with his stories of Musqueam and Chinese Vancouver, and of growing up here, grappling with his identity and trying to build a life in a system that excluded him at every turn.鈥�

Larry returned to speak to our students a number of times over the years. Scott remembers he and John Maxwell, Associate Professor, took him for lunch at a nearby diner after one of those orientation sessions where Larry shared his compelling lived experience with our students. 鈥淲e talked about writing down his extraordinary life story, which eventually became this book.鈥�

When Larry Grant talks about reconciliation, he uses the verb reconciling, an ongoing, unfinished process we鈥檙e all going through, Indigenous and settler, immigrant and Canadian-born. 鈥淚 have been reconciling my whole life, with my inner self,鈥� Larry explains. 鈥淭o not belong was forced upon me by the colonial society that surrounded me. But reconciling with myself is part of all that.鈥�

It鈥檚 taken most of Larry鈥檚 long life for his extraordinary heritage to be appreciated. He was born in a hop field outside Vancouver in 1936, the son of a Musqueam cultural leader and an immigrant from a village in Guangdong, China. In 1940, when the Indian agent discovered that their mother had married a non-status man, Larry and his two siblings were stripped of their status. With one stroke of the pen, they were disenfranchised鈥攏o longer recognized as Indigenous. 

Through his own journey, Larry recognized the embedded value that the h蓹n虛q虛蓹min虛蓹m虛 language has to self-identity, kinship, culture, territory, and history prior to European contact. These days he is helping revitalize h蓹n虛q虛蓹min虛蓹m虛 and co-teaches an introductory h蓹n虛q虛蓹min虛蓹m虛 course through UBC.  

Scott first met Larry at UBC 10 years ago, when he interviewed him for a story about h蓹n虛q虛蓹min虛蓹m虛 street signs on campus.  鈥淚n the years since, I鈥檝e watched Larry be lauded, including receiving an honorary Doctor of Laws from 天美mv天美 in October 2023. And in working together, we鈥檝e become friends and allies, and now co-authors.鈥�

The book,  is a series of conversations between Larry Grant and writer Scott Steedman as they visit pivotal geographical places together, including the Musqueam reserve, Chinatown, the site of the Mission residential school, the Vancouver docks and the University of British Columbia.

鈥淲orking on this book," Scott recalls, "we walked the streets of Chinatown and Strathcona and went on road trips up and down the river. I learned so much about my home city, from a very different, very grounded perspective.鈥�

Larry鈥檚 life echoes the barely known story of Vancouver and spans key events of the last two centuries, including Chinese immigration and the Head Tax, the ravages of residential school and now Indigenous revival and the accompanying change in worldview.

Through this book, Larry tells us the story of his life, including his thoughts on reconciliation and the path forward for First Nations and Canada.