British Columbia's Original, Aboriginal Cultural Treasures

Relations between Canada's 'First Peoples' and its newcomers are still on shaky grounds, but cultural tours are helping to ease tensions.

October 24, 2007

British Columbia represents perhaps the oldest and newest of the peoples of Canada. This province was reached near the end of the trek across Canada by European immigrants, but it was probably inhabited before most of the country thousands of years earlier, by hardy groups crossing over from Asia on the land bridge that used to run between the continents through Alaska. Descendants of those first settlers, the native people of British Columbia today refer to themselves as aboriginals, meaning "historically first," or sometimes, as "First Peoples," rather than "native Canadians," as would be the case if using the US term for those who preceded the Europeans.

Hoping to make amends for a long-term policy of neglect and previous periods of outright hostility (as in the US), local and provincial governments are just getting started now on giving grants to several First Nation groups (another Canadian term), especially in the arts. The consensus in BC seems to be that promoting the arts and culture of aboriginal people is preferable to just opening up a casino, and they may have a point there. "We wanted to share our culture with the world and employ our people," said Sheila Johnny of the Quw'utsun' Cultural Center on Vancouver Island, where the Cowichan Tribes, a Coast Salish Nation, in addition to opening their center to the public, operates the bingo portion of a casino, but not the casino itself.

Relations between First Peoples and the government are not always smooth -- there were demonstrations on the subject when I visited Vancouver this summer, as were there elsewhere in Canada. British Columbia is said to be the only province that has not yet formalized a land treaty with its Native Bands. A national newspaper editorial complained that "almost 900 specific land claims remain clogged in the federal system," and BC had 352 of those. The province also has the second largest number of aboriginal people, exceeded only by Ontario.

First Nation Cultural Tours

Talking Totem Tours specializes in First Nations experiences, including a rail tour, a sweat lodge ceremony, the Bald Eagle Festival, powwows, war canoe races and a whale watching tour, among other exotic topics. They cover areas in which five different groups live, including the Haida and Coast Salish. They go to places where tourists are seldom seen, visiting real people in their home areas. They knit together native cultural entrepreneurs and eco-tourism packages. The Sweat Lodge Ceremony tour, for instance, takes place every Friday and Saturday from mid April to mid October, 2007, and goes to Powell River on the Sunshine Coast. The price is $198 if you stay in a traditional teepee or guesthouse, $344 at the Lund Hotel. The Bald Eagle Festival, November 17 and 18, 2007, costs from $324 and up. You can stay in the Kwelaxtelatiya Longhouse, a B&B, for $280. Talking Totem Tours, 814 Marine Drive, Gibsons BC, tel. 877/886-0166 or 604/886-0166, email info@talkingtotemtours.com, websites www.talkingtotemtours.com and www.aboriginaltoursbc.com.

Takaya Tours can provide an unforgettable cultural experience, taking you out on ancestral waters of the Burrard Inlet near Stanley Park in either one of their Northwest Coast traditional canoe replicas or in kayaks. Takaya Tours is staffed by members of the sacred territory of the Burrard Inlet, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, and also with members of neighboring First Nations, based in North Vancouver. They and their ancestors have traveled the land and waters of this area for thousands of years, and the canoes are modernized and very stable. You go out with your guides on the calm water off Cates Park. Each of the guides is trained in first aid and emergency procedures, and all are in constant communication by radio.

Using a combination of kayaks and/or canoes, the organizers can either teach you the basics of safe sea kayaking while giving you a tour of the local area, from $65, or take you paddling on a two-hour Northwest Coast Canoe cultural odyssey for only $53.94. Along the way, you'll hear First Nations songs, legends and local history. The enthusiastic young organizers have been in business for almost a decade, and can even arrange a traditional Sockeye salmon feast for a minimum of 10 persons. You can rent single and double kayaks or one that will accommodate two persons plus a child. Takaya Tours has two paddling centers, one located in Cates Park in North Vancouver (tel. 604/985-2925), another out of Belcarra Regional Park, Port Moody (tel. 604/936-0236). Takaya Tours reservations tel. 604/904-7410, email office@takayatours.com, website www.takayatours.com.

Qulus Aboriginal Tours can take you on a 4-hour or a 6-hour First Nations Interpretive tour of Vancouver and surrounding areas, each led by a Native guide and including lunch. 2008 tours operate Mondays through Thursdays from April through September. Both feature the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia and a guided tour of the Haida replica village there. Prices for 4-hour tour $56, for 6-hour tour $90; discounts for students, seniors, and children. Qulus Aboriginal Tours, tel. 888/997-8587 or 604/590-5472, email qulus@dccnet.com, website www.vancouver-travel-bc.com.

First Peoples Arts & Crafts

A good place to buy West Coast Native and Inuit art is Khot-La-Cha Art Gallery & Gift Shop, located on the Capilano Reserve near the North Vancouver side of the Lions Gate Bridge. Owned by the very creative Nancy Nightingale, daughter of a famous Squamish chief, the shop features original pieces of work by well-known West Coast artists, including hand carved silver and gold jewelry, wooden bowls and mugs, totem poles and plaques, as well as hand-knit sweaters and limited edition prints. Many of the local carvers featured here are Coast Salish and are related to the Baker family. (I noted some marvelous glassware, one vase in particular, by Wade Baker.) The name, Khot-La-Cha means "kind heart" in Squamish, and is also the name of Nightingale's father, Simon Baker, a cultural ambassador for Canada in far-off places such as Australia, Europe and Japan. (He is a direct descendant of Joe Capilano, who was prominent in early land claims, and who went to London in 1906 to present his people's case to Edward VII.)

You can pick up books here, too, or a leaflet explaining how to "read" a totem pole, deciphering the stylized carvings of animals, birds, people and plants. One of the most popular is the Thunderbird totem, one of which stands on the Capilano reserve. All portrayed represent certain characteristics, among them the raven (bringer of light, fire and water) and the eagle (wisdom, authority, power). Small wooden carved plaques from as little as $66, many carvings in the $190 to $280 range, small bracelets from $100 and up, a lot of finer and larger pieces, too. Khot-La-Cha Art Gallery & Gift Shop, 270 Whonoak Street, North Vancouver, tel. 604/987-3339, email khot-la-cha-art@shaw.ca, website www.khot-la-cha.com.

Native Cultural Center

Out on lush Vancouver Island, a short drive north of Victoria, is the Quw'utsun' Cultural and Conference Centre, in Duncan. A project of the Quw'utsun' People (their name transcribed as Cowichan in an attempt to sound the word properly), it features cultural interpretive tours, native demonstrations and entertainment (July and August only), a movie, a fine Riverwalk Café, and an art gallery/gift shop. The summer demonstrations and entertainment include the Cowichan Tzinquaw Dancers, Tuesdays through Saturdays at 1pm, performed alongside the pretty little Cowichan River (a designed BC Heritage River, no less), with sounds and stories from the past. You can also see Cowichan artists demonstrate knitting, carving and weaving. The Cowichan Tribes today are the largest in British Columbia, with over 4,000 members, and is part of the Coast Salish Nation region, which covers southern BC and the upper Puget Sound area of Washington State.

Member of the Cowichan Tribes take you around on the 30-minute tour, sharing their own stories with legends and teachings of their peoples. (My excellent guide, John George, told me that his grandmother described a posthumous encounter with a favorite uncle, who she believes had returned as a five-foot-tall great white owl.) There are about a dozen totem poles in the center's six-acre grounds, including a Raven Pole, a Marriage Pole (the suitor waits outside the girl's home four days before getting an answer, then her family symbol goes atop his on their joint totem pole), and a Thunderbird Pole.

In the Riverwalk Café (open June through September), I enjoyed a fine lunch of hwul'ihwul'muhw taco ($11, native fried bread topped with venison chili, salsa, etc.), typical of First Nation-inspired dishes, but they have standard restaurant fare, too (e.g. a venison or salmon burger at $12). If you get a group together (min. 45),m you can order a mid-day salmon barbecue of wild pacific salmon for $35, admission included. In the Gift Shop, you can purchase genuine Cowichan sweaters and other handcrafted Coast Salish artwork. Admission July & August $13, $7 other months, closed Dec. & Feb. (price includes the film). Seniors, youth and children pay less. Quw'utsun' Cultural Centre, 200 Cowichan Way, Duncan BC, tel. 877/746-8119 or 250/746-8119, email askme@quwutsun.ca, website www.quwutsun.ca.

Totems of Duncan

Duncan, which calls itself "the city of totems," isn't kidding. It's an outdoor museum, really, with 26 magnificent totem poles, celebrating the art of totem carving, which has been handed down through generations as a way of preserving the history and culture of the First Nations People. They are usually a pictorial record of a family's standing in the community, or the their legendary and spiritual ancestry. They were also used to welcome guests, honor the dead, or guard a family home. One is said to be the world's largest pole in diameter, being 6'7" around. All were erected from 1987 onward. There are free guided talking tours (taking 45 minutes) every hour on the hour from May through September, usually from 10 to 2. Tours begin at the Train Station. For other months, you can arrange for a guide at a small fee by contacting the Duncan Business Improvement Area Society at tel. 250/715-1700 or emailing them at dbia@downtownduncan.ca. The website is www.downtownduncan.ca.

Note: All prices are in Canadian dollars (CAD $), which are close to parity, with one US dollar equaling 1.05 Canadian dollar at time of writing, or conversely the Canadian dollar being equal to 95 US cents.