"Paddles up" was the action we were told to do by our skipper when we arrived back in Porpoise Bay after a three-day canoe journey up Sechelt Inlet.
With this action we sang the shíshálh múyuk grizzly bear song. On the snixwelh (canoe) the skip is the híwús (boss) and there is no space for democracy or consensus with the exception that we work together, we paddle together, one mind, one heart, one spirit - and we do as our skip says we do.
The water is a powerful element that requires the adherence and respect of all paddlers. There are many, many protocols to paddling a traditional sea-going canoe, and not following them has consequences.
You never ever call a canoe a "boat." I worked in the kayak industry for more than 15 years and we called them boats. I have not been able to break this habit, and I annoy my skip Robert to no end. He could kick me off the canoe if he chose to, and it would be in his every right - even if I am his employer.
If you drop your paddle in the water, you will have to dance for that paddle in the longhouse - and dance you will among many spectators if you want your paddle back. There are no exceptions. Someone dropped their paddle two minutes into the tour, but we gave the nine-year-old a break and just teased her about dancing for her paddle for the rest of the day. Well, we teased her on the following day too, and the day after that. It's our nature, and sharing our sometimes dry and unrelenting humour is one of the ways we show one another that we care.
Learning how to take a joke is an essential survival skill in Native-ville, and these skills are learned young.
Our canoe journey was just over a 50-kilometre paddle there and back, and many of our paddlers ranged from the ages of nine to 14.
When we were not paddling, we were swimming and eating. We ate big pots of Dungeness crabs that our boat support staff Jonathan had harvested for us. There was no fresh cod on this particular trip because the boys kept losing Jon's hooks among the rocky shores, but we did have canned salmon as back up.
We visited the various cultural sites throughout the Inlet, but were unable to visit some of the pictographs we intended to see on day two as the head wind became unrelenting and it was a priority to get to the beach to safety and to the fire to warm up.
Many of the paddlers were 12 and under, and their tenacity and stamina on the water was spectacular to witness. Paddling with these young people can really give you a sense of deep pride in our youth and community.
Paddling, I truly believe, is in our blood.
?ul-nu-mulh-chalap (we all thank you all) to the Sechelt Nation Social Development and to School District No. 46 for supporting our community canoe journey and Harvest Project. A special thank you to Kerry Mahlman, Jan Stevens, Tracy Simpkins and Mike Maxwell.
