Now You Know Me tells of a journey of understanding between two old friends who grew up in different worlds in the same small town of Powell River, BC, on traditional Tla’amin land. Joe Gallagher, who is Tla’amin, and John Matterson, who is white, were friends as teenagers but went their separate ways before reconnecting 35 years later and truly getting to know each other.
As John began to listen more deeply to Joe’s history, they journeyed together through the historic events and attitudes that deeply wounded the Tla’amin and their way of life. With each conversation, John’s understanding of Joe’s life and recognition of his own unearned advantages and blind participation in racism became clearer.
In their illuminating dialogue in Now You Know Me, we learn what it took for Joe to straddle two worlds while battling racism, a traumatic childhood, and his father’s warning that he couldn’t succeed in a white world without working twice as hard. Despite ongoing suffering from multigenerational harms, Joe garnered broad respect on his way to becoming CEO of a groundbreaking Indigenous-led health organization, bringing hope and a collaborative spirit to a revolution in health and wellness for BC First Nations.
Today, John is committed to ongoing learning and allyship, while Joe is called on by First Nations leaders as well as senior leaders in health and government as an able navigator of the movement toward Truth and Reconciliation.

k'ʷunəmɛn Joe Gallagher is Coast Salish from the ɬaʔəmen (Tla’amin) Nation. His mom Ann was from the χʷɛmaɬku (Homalco) Nation, and his father Norman was also from the ɬaʔəmen (Tla’amin) Nation. Both ɬaʔəmen (Tla’amin) and χʷɛmaɬku (Homalco) are part of the Ey7á7juuthem(EYE-a-jooth-um) speaking people which also includes the ƛohos (Klahoose) and θaɬaθtuxʷ (K'ómoks) Peoples, and who’s rich territory is the northernmost part of the overall Coast Salish territory. Joe was born in the heart of the ɬaʔəmen territory in a mill town settler colonialists named Powell River and was raised on the Sliammon (ɬaʔəmen) Indian Reserve #1.

Joe has overcome many roadblocks to become a leader on the soccer field, in his community and beyond. He proudly represented the ɬaʔəmen Nation in the highly competitive First Nations Soccer circuit and played at an elite level with the University of Victoria and with several teams in the Vancouver Island Premier league. During his playing days Joe also represented Canada in Futsal. As a community leader Joe has worked with First Nations Peoples in areas of health, governance, community and economic development, business development, intergovernmental affa

Joe Gallagher's profile page

John Matterson's profile page