Land Based Learning © Wade Charlie
R E V I TA L I Z I N G T R A D I T I O N S Wade Charlie Gathers Knowledge to Feed the Future DAV E FLAWSE
On the northern tip of Vancouver Island, a
After the forced relocation by the RCMP and Federal
low-lying fog obscures the treetops. The Island’s knotty,
Government, the ‘Nakwaxd’xw lost some knowledge of
mountainous spine, and the brooding faces of the Coast
not only drum making but traditional practices, and, as
Mountains across Queen Charlotte Strait sit fat with snow
the owner of the outdoor education program, Ma’pa’gam,
to sea level. It’s mid-January 2022, and the exceptionally
Charlie teaches youth and adults traditional hunting,
chilly winter has lingered for almost a month.
harvesting, and processing techniques intertwined with
Some reprieve comes when a sodden low-pressure sys-
‘Nak’wala language and protocols.
tem blows up from Hawaii and melts just enough snow
‘Nak’wala is the language of the ‘Nakwaxd’xw People, and
to allow Wade Charlie to get to work; he speaks with me
Charlie’s grandpa was a hereditary chief. Charlie says he’s
while he scours the forest for a red cedar snag.
“the oldest of the oldest” in his family, and “that’s how the
I hear his footsteps on the other end of the line crunch
chieftainship is passed down.”
against a gravel road. “We are going to start to teach the
The ‘Nakwaxd’xw (10 clan tribe) are part of the Kwakwa-
Guskamuxw youth how to sing on the log,” he tells me in
ka’wakw Nation which consists of 18 tribes whose terri-
a tone mixed with excitement and pride. “A round drum
tory encompasses the northern tip of Vancouver Island,
or hand drum is from the over the mountains people. We
Johnstone Strait south to Campbell River, Queen Char-
use a dugout log. We have to cut it to length then hollow
lotte Strait north to Smith Inlet and east up the many in-
it out.”
lets of the mainland.
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