![]() ![]() Her goal now is to encourage more youth to come on the journeys, share their own stories, and learn from the elders. Being on the water as a canoe skipper helped her to heal, she said, and inspired her to speak about her mother. Growing up on the Squamish Nation in North Vancouver, she said, she was distrustful of the police, especially following her mother’s death in 2017. Kelly SinoskiĬassandra Baker, 20, agreed. “But to have officers come out from West Vancouver or Abbotsford.that maybe changes their perception the next time they have engagement with a First Nations person.” Among the Copeland Islands. Jeff Wood, of the West Vancouver Police, said the situation works both ways: “We often think of police officers as being tough and hard and never smiling,” he said. She said the journey offers youth opportunities and often sparks something in them to “maybe choose another path”.Ĭonst. They challenged us and said if you are going to make change you have to work with our youth.” Coming ashore at Willingdon Beach. ![]() "We may never change their minds about having a reasonable relationship with law enforcement. “At one point, the elders noticed we had youth, and they had spoken to us, saying our current elders and adults were essentially lost," said Blake, who is of Tahltan heritage. Their backgrounds vary, from high school students to VPD cadets to at-risk youth in care of the Ministry of Children and Families. Youth have become a focus of the journey, their numbers jumping from 10 percent to almost 50 percent during the past five years, Blake said. “That’s a big part of what the journey’s about: looking after our future teaching our children about the culture.” Canoes wait for traditional permission to come ashore, at Willingdon Beach. Kelly Sinoskiĭuring the day and during nightly protocols, people shared personal stories of healing and their own traditions: a bear dance by a young boy from the Tla’amin Nation a drill from the Vancouver police cadets naval officers at attention during the blessing of their canoe by Tla’amin elders a plaintive call for a hug that saw dozens rush from their seats to comply.Īnd, during the final feast, there was an honour song for youth, “uplifting their spirit and letting them know they’re loved”, said Wes Nahanee, a member of the Squamish Nation and skipper of the Urban Native Youth Association canoe. As skipper of the Demitri, one of the largest canoes, Blake directed her “family” when to get their paddles up, to keep their elbows straight, to pull.Īs the Demitri moved through the water, someone sang a Maori song from her native New Zealand, while "The Gambler" could be heard among Indigenous songs echoing across the water. On the water, the canoe "families" pulled together to get to the next destination. Jodi Harry (in white, left) and Janine Gonzales (left, front) bless a canoe. ![]() It began with the blessings, or awakening of spirits, of the 16 canoes and continued with daily prayers and cedar-brushing ceremonies. This year’s journey, based out of Tla’amin Nation, included stops at Stillwater Bay, Willingdon Beach, Tla’amin, Lund, Harwood Island, the Copeland Islands, and Savary Island. This is one event with a few hundred people and it needs to be thousands and thousands to have a huge impact on the community.” ![]() “We certainly know there’s a lot of work to be done. "We’re a small part of the bigger picture of reconciliation,” said Linda Blake, an RCMP inspector with the prime minister's protection detail and president of the Pulling Together Canoe Society. More than 300 people, half of them youth, participated in the 19th annual journey-which includes participants from police and provincial and federal agencies-to foster relationships and promote healing, reconciliation, and the sharing of cultures for Indigenous host nations. It makes me so unbelievably happy, especially with all the families.” Tim Lorenz (left) and Emily-Ann Chick getting the paddlers to dance at Harwood Beach. “That, personally, is a little trigger of mine it just gets me going. “I think that one was a tie,” said Tim Lorenz, 36, who was challenged by Katzie canoemate Emily-Ann Chick. Known as the Challenge Song, it was one of many ceremonial prayers, dances, and teachings during the eight-day Pulling Together canoe journey, hosted by the Tla’amin Nation near Powell River from July 4 to 12. Everyone was shouting, jumping, laughing before they gathered in a circle, with the two song instigators sharing a hug. The voices of each side rising in volume, the rocks punctuating the air. It began with a tradition as old as the beach upon which they stood. ![]()
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