For the second time in three years, Gibsons will play host to Pulling Together, a journey that begins this year on the mighty Fraser River at Hope on June 24 and culminates at Winegarden Park on Canada Day. Bring your family and be prepared to be amazed. At 4 p.m. July 1, the 15 canoes comprising this year's Pulling Together will come into the harbour and ask permission to come ashore. The participants' regalia will be a feast for the eyes.
Pulling Together has been an annual event since 2001. Designed as an opportunity to bring together First Nations, youth and police, the journey has drawn folks from all over Canada, mainly from B.C.
For Gibsons' Ed Hill, who has been part of Pulling Together since its inception, this year, in light of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's apology for the residential school legacy, is especially poignant. And to Hill, it's quite appropriate that Pulling Together begins in MP Chuck Strahl's constituency. Strahl is the Minister of Indian Affairs.
"With the apology only two weeks ago, I think it will be a prevalent theme. This type of event [Pulling Together] has particular relevance to that apology. Native people all said the apology was wonderful, but action must follow it. Pulling Together represents some of those actions," Hill said.
Police and First Nations working together is particularly close to the retired RCMP staff sergeant's heart.
"All those years ago, laws were invasive and destructive - and in many instances, the instrument that administered the law was the police force. The government's intention by its own words was to kill the Indian in the child. Isn't it ironic that the very force [police] that tried to destroy the culture is now pulling it back to the people?" he mused.
Some people "pooh pooh" the idea, Hill said, saying the annual event is just a camping trip or people out paddling. "But you know that's not true," he said.
And indeed the trip will go places no ordinary camping trip ever would. The participants will be invited into First Nations' longhouses. Troubled youth from urban areas in Metro Vancouver will have an opportunity to learn firsthand about their culture. They will listen to the elders talk about a way of life that the Indian residential schools tried to destroy. For some young people, the seven-day journey will be an opportunity to connect with their spiritual side and feel pride in who they are.
This year Const. Jacob Joslin of the Sunshine Coast RCMP will be part of Pulling Together for the first time. Here for one and a half years, Joslin came from Prince Rupert. He volunteered for the journey out of curiosity and a desire to connect with the other participants. And while Joslin used to be a paddler, he hasn't been out on the water much in the past year. He's not sure what to expect physically but is looking forward to the adventure.
More than 200 people will participate in this year's Pulling Together. From our area, about four youths and a dozen or so paddlers and ground crew will take part.
For Hill it's another opportunity to make a difference in young people's lives - and to perhaps put meaning to the prime minister's apology.
