The ongoing summer festival that is Music in The Landing, sponsored by the Town of Gibsons, has arranged a special Indigenous cultural event for the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 5, when the Squamish (Skwxwú7mesh) Ocean Canoe Family comes to Winegarden Park.
“Squamish Nation singers and dancers will be sharing songs and dances as well as stories of the Squamish people,” Music in The Landing co-ordinator Kevin Crofton told Coast Reporter.
“This is a fundraiser for the Squamish Ocean Canoe Family, for their Tribal Journeys,” said Crofton. He said he expected about a dozen members of the family will be involved in the Gibsons event.
Tribal Journeys, also associated with the Pulling Together program among several Coast Salish Nations, are ritual canoeing voyages the Squamish have engaged in since the early 1990s and are a part of the nation’s cultural renewal and healing traditions.
“They participate in a Tribal Journey every year, with canoes from tribes and nations in the U.S. and Canada,” Crofton added. “People from all over the world are joining tribal journeys over the last several years. It’s a drug- and alcohol-free journey.”
The event starts at 2 p.m. and is scheduled to run 90 minutes.
