It's only a few weeks into 2014, but the Sechelt Nation has been busy on a number of rewarding projects.
There has been a lot of enthusiasm with our younger people who are pursuing employment opportunities with SEASPAN in North Vancouver. Seeking apprenticeship training and finding an avenue to get on to the unions is fundamental to attaining employment. I'm rooting for you guys and if I weren't so in love with tourism, I would join you.
This shipbuilding is going to be a 40-year project that will need every skill set. Darnell Pail has been the trailblazer, working steadily on Vancouver Island. He just started his second years' journeymen training in Surrey and has a wealth of information for members seeking similar opportunities. Fellow community members Holly Estabrook, Dillon Estabrook, Bernie Piere, Caz Paul, and Micheal Vader are doing their welding certification in Power River and will complete in March.
Our leaders have been consumed with the clean energy initiatives and Band business. We are heading into council nominations and by April 1 we will start a new three-year term with our chief and council. I wish the best of luck to all candidates.
I had the opportunity to do research in December for the Nation on a herring study. My job was to review documents and the oral history from the '70s and '80s, so I read transcript interviews of our elders' accounts.
My grandmothers' generation was so insightful and conscientious of our peoples' future and our responsibilities to the land that my thoughts were consumed throughout the holidays with my new teachings.
I was fascinated with how our people were so knowledgeable about our region and resources. Herring was actually a major food source for our Shishalh people.
The late Clarence Joe Sr., in his interview, shared how he was sought out by the elders to remember site names in our language, the cultural meanings of our various village and harvesting sites. Clarence, a true intellect, trained and was highly fluent in both Sechelt and English, so effectively and eloquently translates and describes Shishalh philosophy and worldview.
The over all theme throughout these interviews was that the major transitions, hereditary leadership during the epidemics that had resulted in major population decline, the awareness and focus towards new ways of making a living was not a passive occurrence for our people. Our people did their best to sustain our way of life, our understanding of our land and waters, while transitioning into the new economy and into new relationships.
Editor's note: Candace Campo writes regularly for Coast Reporter on Sechelt Nation issues, its people and its history.
