Editor:
I felt privileged to hike through the Clack Creek Forest on Sunday, then to see the skeleton of ‘Guardian of the Sea’ Monday morning at the tems swiya Museum in Sechelt. I entered a state of unexpected reverence both times; I was also moved to tears, overwhelmed with sadness and deep concern. Still, I trust that we are all as committed to celebrating and safeguarding our non-human co-inhabitants of the Sunshine Coast as we are to paying respect to and mourning what no longer exists. Bones and old-growth stumps, no matter how worthy of tours, tributes, story-telling, and conservation, can surely never equal the awe-inspiring power, albeit soft-spoken and incredibly vulnerable, of what lives among us, wanting only to continue living.
I trust the shíshálh Nation, all of us, to ensure that old-growth forests, orcas, and all who lack a voice and need our tender help, will be granted equal rights to simply be, without us seeking to gain in any way but spiritually from their priceless presence.
Janice Williams, Gibsons
