For more than three decades, Elder Larry Grant has been a guiding presence at MOA. A respected Musqueam Elder, educator, and knowledge keeper, he has shared his wisdom with generations of youth, students, volunteers, and visitors—helping to shape the spirit of learning and respect that continues to define MOA today.

Elder Grant’s longstanding relationship with MOA is rooted in his generosity as a teacher and mentor. Since the early 1990s, he has graciously hosted the Native Youth Program (NYP) at the Musqueam reserve, offering the youth invaluable opportunities for intergenerational and land-based learning. Each summer, Elder Grant has welcomed participants to Musqueam territory—leading them through the Musqueam Cultural Centre, the band office council chambers and out onto the Fraser River by boat, sharing stories of the land and water that connect the Musqueam people to this place.

His openness and kindness have left a lasting imprint on hundreds of young people who have come through the NYP, inspiring deeper understanding and respect for the living cultures represented within MOA’s walls. As MOA’s Curator of Indigenous Engagement and director of NYP, Damara Jacobs-Petersen, says, “We are forever grateful for Larry’s generosity in sharing so much of himself with us.”

Beyond his mentorship with the Native Youth Program, Elder Grant has contributed to many facets of MOA’s work over the years. He has given a traditional Musqueam welcome to countless museum visitors at exhibition and event openings for over 30 years. He also played an integral role in the landmark exhibition and documentary project c̓əsnaʔəm, the city before the city—helping bring forward Musqueam perspectives on land, language, and belonging. Elder Grant also collaborated on MOA’s landscape renewal, ensuring the design reflects the deep relationship between the Museum and the Musqueam people on whose unceded territory it stands.

This fall, Elder Grant’s voice reaches even further with the release of his new book, Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong, co-written with Scott Steedman (ECW Press 2025). Told through a series of conversations set across Musqueam, Chinatown, the Fraser River, and UBC, the book traces Elder Grant’s extraordinary journey as the son of a Musqueam cultural leader and a Chinese immigrant father—a life marked by resilience, reflection, and the lifelong process of reconciling identity and belonging.

“To not belong was forced upon me by the colonial society that surrounded me,” Larry explains. “But reconciling with myself is part of all that.”

“When Larry talks about reconciliation, he uses the verb reconciling—an ongoing, unfinished process we’re all a part of,” writes Scott Steedman.

As Reconciling invites readers to walk beside Elder Grant through the places that shaped his life, it also reflects the very work he has modeled at MOA for decades: the slow, patient, and profoundly human work of connection, understanding, and respect.

“Larry Grant’s life is a model of what it means to rise above hardship, transcend preconceived notions, and live life in a good way,” writes Shelagh Rogers, Honorary Witness of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. “I’ve had the honour of meeting him, but this book makes me feel as if I know him. And that is a profound gift.”

MOA extends heartfelt congratulations to Elder Larry Grant on the publication of Reconciling—and deep gratitude for his many years of leadership, generosity, and friendship. His teachings continue to shape the Museum’s relationship with the land, with Musqueam, and with all who walk through its doors.

Reconciling: A Lifelong Struggle to Belong is available for purchase in the MOA Shop, in-person or online.