Shyanne Waters, a community leader within the Sechelt Nation, has a passion for paddling. If you visit her office you will find the walls filled with the many photos and mementos from her numerous journeys on the water.
She is one of the skippers of the Sechelt Nation's traditional West Coast style canoe, the seskw k'aykw (Flying Eagle). Alongside fellow skippers Carol Louie and Andy Johnson, and with the support of many others, Waters has dipped her paddle in the sparkling waters of many a kilometre of B.C.'s beautiful Salish Sea.
Begun in 1989 by Bella Bella Nation members Cathy and Frank Brown, Tribal Journeys is an annual event that has grown to be more than 5,000 attendees strong. It represents many Aboriginal communities joining hands across borders and territories and a dynamic resurgence of the ancient tradition of the great west coast ocean going canoes. Many of the elders speak of how Tribal Journeys is a reawakening of spirit. As the elders and the Nations stand along the shore and witness the journey they remember seeing the great canoes when they were very small and lament the days when it was almost a lost cultural art.
This coming summer the seskw k'aykw canoe and its dedicated canoe family hopes to join Tribal Journeys and paddle with more than 100 other canoe families from Oregon to Washington to Bella Bella, bringing the journey full circle.
Travelling more than 500 km, the journey will heal and awaken the spirit of the people along the way.
"This experience is so powerful for our youth" Waters said. "It allows so much healing and growth to happen."
A journey of this magnitude comes with some significant expenses, including a support boat which, for safety reasons, travels the entire journey alongside the canoe. As well there is the cost of ferry travel home for all the paddlers and their support crew. The seskw k'aykw is relying entirely on donations from the community to make the journey happen.
This Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 16 and 17, the canoe family is hosting a Christmas craft fair at the Sechelt Indian Band Hall, with all proceeds going towards supporting the journey. Come out and do a little shopping, enjoy some hot chili and a bannock dog, and if you can, make a donation to the journey. There are also still tables available for vendors.
For more details, contact Ward at 604-741-3906 or visit http://tribaljourneys.wordpress.com.
