When visitors from around the world trek through Stanley Park in Vancouver this summer, chances are they will find themselves in the Klahowya Village, a brand new cultural exhibit featuring First Nations art, carving, stories, cuisine, performances and history.
The man behind the design and handiwork of the village is Sechelt Nation artist Richard Krentz.
Krentz, who was born in Pender Harbour and grew up north of Sechelt, has been working for weeks on building and carving dozens of pieces for Klahowya Village.
Klahowya is the Chinook word for "welcome." Krentz said he's excited to welcome the world.
"There's a carving area where we will carve totems, a canoe. We're working on poles for a 40-foot teepee. There's a weaving station where visitors can watch First Nations artists weave and buy the products when they're done," he said, eagerly pacing around the path visitors will follow.
Beyond that, visitors will find a story circle where First Nations storytellers will pass on the legends of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh bands that traditionally inhabited the areas around Vancouver, a healing path bordered with stones etched with petroglyphs of animal totems and a performance stage atop a small pond. Even the miniature train is being incorporated into the overall theme.
Most of the wood used in project comes from a single, ancient cedar tree that the Vancouver Parks Board (VPB) had planned to remove for safety reasons. Krentz arranged for the tree to be lowered with a crane so the wood could be reused.
The cedar, Krentz said, holds special significance for First Nations in B.C. because of the many things it could be used for, so it's fitting the village would be constructed from it.
"We call it the tree of life, because it's with us from birth to death," Krentz said. "The little inner bark was used for diapers, the bark was used for making rope, we carved canoes for transportation, we made our houses out of it, medicine came from the branches, we used it for making totem poles and all kinds of regalia and cooking ware. It was our tree.
"You can imagine how hard it was to fall a tree back then when all you had was beaver tooth tools."
While the art is stunning, there's a larger goal with Klahowya Village. The project is funded by Aboriginal Tourism B.C. (ATBC) to help funnel interest into aboriginal tourism and business around the province.
Krentz got involved in the project because he sees tourism as one of the last, best viable opportunities for First Nations youth.
"I'd like to encourage the young people to step forward and participate in these kinds of things, because all our resources are drying up and the only thing we've got left is tourism, so they need to get trained in it and build a career in it," he said.
Revenues from the Klahowya Village will help fund that tourism.
"This is going to be the seed bank for aboriginal tourism all over the province. It will all start from here All the young people can come here and learn and practise. It's the best thing that ever happened to the whole community. It's not just an artistic thing. This is going to move us forward in leaps and bounds," he said.
Krentz is modest about the work that goes into his art. The challenge with Klahowya, he said, has been trying to co-ordinate the visions of all the First Nations groups represented in the village along with those of ATBC and the VPB.
"The building of the stuff is quite simple. It's mechanical. You chop a chunk out and pretty soon it looks like something. But with the politics, divine intervention is needed sometimes," Krentz said with a laugh.
Krentz' previous work includes a longhouse and several totem poles around the Sunshine Coast. He was also behind the world's tallest totem pole ever erected in Victoria during the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
The village is expected to be open June 30 until the Labour Day long weekend.
After that, Krentz said the village will be open even longer next year, and plans are underway for similar projects in Whistler, Kelowna and Victoria.
