Volume 14 . Issue 5
June 2018
Baby welcoming at Tla'amin PAGES 16-19
Rose Henry: educating through activism PAGES 10-11
NAUT’SA MAWT TRIBAL COUNCIL NATIONS
Naut’sa mawt - Working together as one EDITORIAL TEAM Cara McKenna – Editor editor@salishseasentinel.ca Todd Peacey – Photographer Celestine Aleck (Sahiltiniye) - Columnist DESIGN & LAYOUT Kelly Landry & Carmel Ecker ADVERTISING & DISTRIBUTION Todd Peacey ads@salishseasentinel.ca PUBLISHER Gary Reith, CAO Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council 330-6165 Highway 17A Delta, B.C., V4K 5B8 604-943-6712 or 1-888-382-7711
The Salish Sea map was created in 2009 by Stefan Freelan at Western Washington University
PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT #42922026 Undeliverable mail may be returned to: 330-6165 Highway 17A Delta, B.C., V4K 5B8 circulation@salishseasentinel.ca The Salish Sea Sentinel is published monthly, ten times a year, by the Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council, representing 6,500 people in 11 member nations. © Salish Sea Sentinel is all rights reserved. Contents and photographs may not be reprinted without written permission. The statements, opinions and points of view expressed in articles published in this magazine are those of the authors. The publisher accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, transparencies or other materials.
COVER PHOTO: Tla’amin Elder Eugene Louie sits with his great granddaughter after a baby welcoming ceremony at the nation on April 6. Fifteen new babies were born into the community in 2017.
1. HALALT (250) 246-4736 chief@halalt.org www.halalt.org 2. HOMALCO (250) 923-4979 3. KLAHOOSE Qathen Xwegus Management Corp (250) 935-6536 www.klahoose.com 4. MALAHAT (250) 743-3231 caroline.harry@malahatnation.com www.malahatnation.com 5. TLA’AMIN (604) 483-9646 clint.williams@tn-bc.ca www.tlaaminnation.com 6. SNAW-NAW-AS (Nanoose) (250) 390-3661 chris.bob@nanoose.org www.nanoose.org
7. SNUNEYMUXW (Nanaimo) (250) 740-2300 www.snuneymuxw.ca 8. STZ’UMINUS (Ladysmith) (250) 245-7155 Ray.Gauthier@coastsalishdevcorp.com www.stzuminus.com 9. TSAWWASSEN (604) 943-2122 info@tsawwassenfirstnation.com www.tsawwassenfirstnation.com 10. TSLEIL-WAUTUTH (604) 929-3454 cao@twnation.ca www.twnation.ca 11. T’SOU-KE (Sooke) (250) 642-3957 administrator@tsoukenation.com www.tsoukenation.com Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council 8017 Chemainus Road Chemainus, B.C., V0R 1K5 (250) 324-1800 • www.nautsamawt.org
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COAST SALISH STORIES
SNUNEYMUXW RIVER STORY
Told by Celestine Aleck (Sahiltiniye) of Snuneymuxw First Nation Long ago, there was a time when we never had any sockeye in Nanaimo River, so the Thunderbird, Eagle, Otter, Mink and Beaver all got together to
decide how we would get sockeye into our river. Eagle said that they would go to the richest place that has the most sockeye, which is Port Alberni, and that he and Thunderbird would host a fake meeting with the Salmon People. “While we host this fake meeting,” he said, “we know that the children will be somewhere else, because children will want to play and talk.” So Eagle asked Mink, Otter and Beaver to find out where the children were, and said to take one, and then take a different route all the way back to Snuneymuxw. He told them: “When you get to Snuneymuxw River, you go up and down that river as many times as you can, and than you hide the baby and we will catch up to you later.” They all agreed to go and made their way to Port Alberni. Eagle and Thunderbird approached the Salmon People and said: “We need to host a meeting, we had a vision and need to talk to you.”
So all the Salmon People went and brought their children somewhere else, and came back for the meeting. When the meeting began, Eagle told them: “We had a vision of people coming from all around the world to fish you off and kill you for sport. We think that some of you should leave.” All the Salmon People were so worried that they didn’t know what to do. They all looked to the King Salmon and asked: “Who stays and who leaves?” As the meeting was taking place, Mink, Otter and Beaver found the children, stole one child and made their way back to Snuneymuxw. Meanwhile, Eagle and Thunderbird dragged the meeting on as long as they could and Eagle said to the Salmon People: “We just wanted to make sure we shared our vision with you, we will let you decide who is to leave and who is to stay, and we will go on our way.” The Salmon People thanked the Eagle and Thunderbird for taking time out of their lives to share this vision. As Eagle and Thunderbird made their way home
to Snuneymuxw, they began carving in the rocks, telling the story of how we got sockeye in our river. There are salmon petrogylphs on Saysutshun (Newcastle Island), Protection Island, Tlaaltxw (Gabriola Island) and up Snuneymuxw River. Eagle and Thunderbird caught up to Mink, Otter and Beaver and had asked if they hid the baby salmon and they said yes. Eagle said: “OK, don’t tell us where the child is, and just split up and go about your day.” Finally, in Port Alberni, all the Salmon People decided who was going to leave and who was going to stay in Port Alberni. They all went to get their children and noticed one was missing, so they had followed the scent of the child all the way to Snuneymuxw River. The Salmon People had gone up and down the river so many times looking for the child that they had lost the scent. All the Salmon People were worried for the child being all alone, that they again looked to the King Salmon and had asked: “What do we do?” The King Salmon said: “We shall lay eggs so that this child has someone to play with, and we will come back every year after so that the child is never alone.” And that is how we had gotten our sockeye in Snuneymuxw River. Celestine is a published writer/illustrator who considers herself very fortunate to have learned some of the rich stories of Coast Salish territory from her elders. She can be contacted at celestinea@snuneymuxw.ca.
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SNUNEYMUXW VIU INSTRUCTOR TEACHES ABOUT RESILIENCE Collette Jones’s class involved bringing in women weavers, singers, a language expert and more Many Canadian universities only began teaching students about the country’s true dark history with Indigenous people in recent years, but Collette Jones (Tlpuhtunaat) is already one step ahead of that narrative. When the Snuneymuxw academic started at Vancouver Island University as a sessional instructor this school year, she was asked to teach Indigenous perspectives that included a majority of history and colonialism—a class she formerly taught at the University of Victoria for six years. But this time, she wanted to teach something more positive that advanced beyond the trauma and sadness. “I told them if you want me to teach … I want to teach something that demonstrates the success of our people,” she said during an interview at VIU’s Indigenous Gathering Place. “Something that’s happy and fulfilling. And that would probably be the resurgence of Indigenous women.” Jones began as a sessional instructor in VIU’s Women and Gender Studies department last August, teaching a class around Indigenous women’s strength and resilience. The class involved bringing Indigenous women into the classroom to speak about their lives and culture to the class of largely non-Indigenous students. Among the eight women brought into the classroom were Coast Salish cedar and blanket weavers, authors, drum makers, singers, a Métis artist and an expert on Coast Salish language revitalization. “These women have really taken back their identity, their culture, their language and they do it through their community work,” Jones said. “When you come to universities, you’re going to learn all man’s theory. But why is there no room for Indigenous knowledge there? That’s what you’re going to hear is our ways of knowing and doing in the courses I teach.” Jones said the course, which recently wrapped up, has been transformational for some students who previously hadn’t learned about Canada's first people from an Indigenous perspective. It has also been healing for Jones, who is a residential school survivor and has seen many changes during her decades as an Indigenous person in a Western education system. 4 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
“I’ve been so far removed from my culture, language, everything,” she said. Jones has had to move forward in order to get to where she is today, and in an unexpected way, her academic journey is now helping to reconnect her with aspects of her culture. While teaching her class at VIU, Jones has been chipping away at her Ph.D. which focuses on Coast Salish ways of knowing in the classroom and involves interviewing elders-in-residence from post-secondary institutions on the Island. “That’s going to teach me at the same time, and that’s going to strengthen Coast Salish ways of knowing at this level,” she said. “I can look at my work and say, ‘oh I’ve been doing this but I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing.’” Jones said she’s taking the next year to fully focus on her Ph.D., but then she plans to unleash everything she’s learned to keep bringing Indigenous teachings and lessons around resiliency into university classrooms. It’s a powerful place to be as she has the ears of many future leaders. “People just want the truth,” she said. Jones teaches the Indigenous perspective and calls it as it is. She questions her students: “Will you continue to tiptoe through the tulips as Canada has for the past 150 years regarding Indigenous history or will you share with others around you what you have learned in this course?” “I teach and work to get people out of their comfort zones; otherwise, they’re going to be stuck. And that’s what society is, they’re stuck in how they view Indigenous people.” And besides challenging those perspectives, she also wants to empower the Indigenous students to take their rightful place at the table and to further their education to their highest potential. She encourages her students to go beyond certificates, diplomas, Bachelors, Masters and to aim high. “It’s still tough to be Indigenous at the universities,” she said. “I tell the students: ‘you’ve got to do your work (healing) and move forward … because you all need to have your rightful place in society on your own land. You must find your identity, your voice and get educated. There’s just so much work to be done.’”
Photo courtesy of VIU
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HƐHƐWŠIN: COMMUNITY PAINTS TLA’AMIN CANOES Two new canoes now ready to take to the water for summer journeys Photos and story by Cara McKenna 6 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
Phil Russell, left, observed as many community members, including Drew Blaney, SALISH SENTINEL •7 put their mark onSEA the Hɛhɛwšin canoes.
Community members carried the canoes from a storage shed at Tla’amin’s Lund Hotel to a nearby tent to be painted.
Editor’s note: While covering a canoe painting ceremony at Kla’amin (Lund) for the Salish Sea Sentinel, I was honoured to be called forward as one of several witnesses for the event. Since it is a witness’s job to remember significant events, I’d like to recognize that prior to sharing the story below. Emote. Two new Tla’amin canoes are ready to take to the water after people from the Indigenous and non-Indigenous community came together to prime and paint the vessels. The canoes were built over the past 8 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
year as part of the Hɛhɛwšin (The Way Forward) initiative. On May 6, the canoes were brushed with cedar and carried from storage at the Lund Hotel to a tent near the water where Tla’amin Elder Elsie Paul made the first brushstroke of primer to the wood. Afterwards, dozens of other attendees took turns painting. “We’re so proud,” Paul said. “We’re moving forward and doing a lot of wonderful things out here.” The canoes called Hɛhɛwšɩn and ƛičos
were carved in a months-long process led by Tla-o-qui-aht carver Joe Martin and involved more than 1,000 schoolchildren and other community members. Hɛhɛwšɩn is a full-sized vessel that’s centred around reconciliation, and ƛičos (springtime) is a smaller canoe for children and youth. The canoe hulls have now been painted black, and the Hɛhɛwšɩn canoe is adorned by an eagle design that was created by artist Sherman Pallen. In the spirit of Hɛhɛwšɩn, Pallen has
Tla’amin artist Sherman Pallen works on his eagle design for the larger vessel.
Tla’amin Elder Elsie Paul was given the honour of giving the first brushstroke on the new canoes.
given the non-Indigenous community permission to paint his design onto the canoe. Lund resident Courtney Cressy, who is also an artist, painted the final piece on. Pallen said, though he worked meticulously on the piece to get it just right, he left the final design decisions to the painters. “I have to really work hard (on my art),” Pallen said. “In order to get a vision, I have to live it, breathe it, do it. I have to be inspired.”
Now that the canoes are finished, Tla’amin member Drew Blaney (Kespahl) said that the summer is going to be a busy one for the new canoes, as they are set to be used in several journeys: Tribal Journeys, Pulling Together and Awaken the Canoes. “So these canoes are going to be well used this summer,” he said. “I really look forward to seeing them on the water.” Cyndi Pallen (čɩnɛ)—who started the Hɛhɛwšɩn initiative along with Elder
John Louie (Yahum) and Lund resident Phil Russell (k̓ʷʊnanəm)—explained that the ultimate goal of the initiative is to see a better future. Hɛhɛwšɩn has now formed a committee and will be initiating more reconciliationcentred activities in months to come. “It’s a gift that we are all together here because at one point, we were never together,” she said. “The journey that we’re working towards today is to have our children be represented in a good way in society.” SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 9
ROSE HENRY: EDUCATING THROUGH ACTIVISM Tla’amin member has spent decades speaking up against social injustice By Cara McKenna On a rainy day in April, dozens of people are risking arrest by rallying at Kinder Morgan’s facility in Burnaby. While the group waits at the terminal gate for police to arrive, Rose Henry stands by, drumming and singing softly. Henry, a member of Tla’amin Nation, doesn’t live in the Lower Mainland, but can be seen at many anti-pipeline events in the area supporting Indigenous rights to unceded land. The experienced activist has fought to balance many social injustices in her lifetime, from opposing damaging fish farms, to being an advocate for the homeless in Victoria where she currently lives. “As an activist, I am an educator,” Henry said. “I get my motivation from coming together to support various people who are willing to take the risk for direct action.” Henry has been doing activism work since she was 14 and is still at it four decades later, but she never really planned it that way – the work kept finding her. In the early 1980s, Henry moved from Powell River to Victoria to attend Camosun College with aims to become a
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social worker and create a better life for herself and her son Josh. Henry, who was taken from her home in Tla’amin as a child and adopted out, wanted to help other kids in similar situations. But life had other plans. “Instead of being the student I became the teacher,” she said. “It took me about 10 years to finally get my Grade 12 and to get the equivalent of first year college, because I’m easily sidetracked. Because I see a lot of injustice.” In recent years, she battled the Harper government in court over election rules that left out many homeless and poor people by requiring them to present both ID and proof of address in order to vote. And in 2001, she travelled to South Africa for the World Conference Against Racism where she sat at a table with Nelson Mandela, and met of her heroes Angela Davis. “I can take my activism both to the streets and into the boardrooms because that’s where the real changes are happening,” Henry said. “Sometimes those decisionmakers have a hard time looking at the human spirit because they don’t know what to do with it. They’re used to looking at
dollars and figures.” Henry’s activism is in her DNA, she said, through her birth mother. During the decade she spent in the foster care system, she happened to be placed with a non-Indigenous family that knew about Indigenous issues at the time. “They made sure we knew our cousins and aunties and knew where they lived,” Henry said. “That was their act of defiance because in the 60s and 70s, we weren’t supposed to know each other.” Her foster mother would also take her to political parties in Powell River, Henry said, where she would sit at tables with people like former deputy B.C. premier Grace McCarthy. Over the years, she’s developed a toolbox of skills, and she’s now focused on what she calls “weaving the web.” “We’re all coming together and I get reenergized to attend gatherings like this one (against Kinder Morgan) and also when I hear young children speaking out,” she said. “We have our senior citizens, our raging grannies, who have been out there as long as I have. Everybody has a responsibility for the disaster (we’re in), but they also have the tools to fix it.”
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Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre curator Alison Pascal speaks about a spindle whorl that represents two communities coming together.
NATIONS COLLABORATE FOR ‘CULTURE AT THE CENTRE’ EXHIBIT MOA brings together work from 5 Indigenous cultural centres in B.C. An exhibit on display at the Museum of Anthropology until October aims to educate on the work of five B.C. Indigenous cultural centres. The Culture at the Centre exhibit brings the work of the distinct nations together, showcasing their unique cultures, languages and traditions while also relating their common goals around cultural preservation. The exhibit is a collaboration between six First Nations—Musqueam, Squamish, Lil’wat, Heiltsuk, Nisga’a and Haida— and MOA. MOA worked with curators from the nations’ five cultural centres to put the display together. Nika Collison, a curator from the 12 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
Haida Gwaii Museum, said the bringing together of nations in a mainstream museum setting is “groundbreaking.” “I have been in the field of arts and heritage for 20 years,” she said during an opening event in March. “I feel it’s only been in the last five years that I’ve sat at a mainstream museum table with other Indigenous people. Our nations coming together is so exciting.” Jill Baird, a curator from MOA, said one of the goals of Culture at the Centre was to highlight the ideas of reconciliation and repatriation between communities and not just within a Western museum setting. For the Squamish and Lil’wat nations, which share territory, that meant putting
aside some of their differences to come together, explained Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre curator Alison Pascal (Mixalhíts̓a7). One of the pieces on display is a spindle whorl carved by Tawx’sin-Yexwulla that was commissioned by Squamish-Lil’wat, and represents the two Salish communities coming together. “We didn’t feel right having a cultural centre without reaching out to the Squamish Nation,” Pascal said. “We started working together on cultural centre in 2005, and opened in 2008. That was so our two nations could be reintroduced together and we could learn how to work together before the doors opened.”
Also on display is a landmark protocol agreement that was signed between the Musqueam, Squamish and TsleilWaututh Nations several years ago. Morgan Guerin, a councillor with Musqueam, said the agreement has been key for the three communities who have been teaming up on various business ventures. “We decided to be a family again,” Guerin said. “We know where our boundaries are, we have always known where they are … we don’t have to have anyone else tell us this. Otherwise it’s not 33 per cent of something, it’s 100 per cent of nothing.” Along with the significant objects from each of the participating nations, the exhibit also includes educational material such as territorial maps and images and video works from the communities. Curators wanted to see each centre respond to the themes of land, language, continuity and reconciliation in their own way. “The challenge and reward was found in coming together to determine some common themes, and finding ways to communicate the dynamic and different nature of these institutions,’ said MOA curator Pam Brown. “All the centres share the values of culture and community being at the heart of what they do.” Culture at the Centre opened on March 18 and will be on display until Oct. 8.
Left: Basket by Theresa Gabriel (Lil’wat). Photo by Derek Tan Below: Jason Woolman, centre, a senior archivist at Musqueam, and Councillor Morgan Guerin, right, speak to media.
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TSLEIL-WAUTUTH WATCH HOUSE GUARDIAN READY FOR LONG HAUL Will George has been on Burnaby Mountain opposing Kinder Morgan since March 10 For 18 years, Will George (Swaysən) mostly worked in solitude, washing the windows of highrises for a living. Now, he’s constantly surrounded by people, he’s in the news almost every day, and he speaks to groups of hundreds of people at a time. That’s because when it became time for the Tsleil-Waututh member to step up to protect his nation’s territory from the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, George did what he had to. “I got pulled out of the weeds to do this,” he said. “That’s just who I am in my community. That’s just a teaching we have, is do what you're asked.”
Since March 10, George has been the fulltime guardian of a Coast Salish watch house that looks over Kinder Morgan’s terminal on Burnaby Mountain. He’s also a leader of the Protect the Inlet resistance movement aimed at stopping the pipeline. George has been at the watch house almost every day with a small group of other water protectors. In the few months that George has been there, a lot has happened: hundreds of peaceful protestors have been arrested, thousands of people have rallied at the site, and Kinder Morgan even announced it would suspend non-essential spending on the project. “We really learned a lot from Standing Rock,” George said during an interview near the watch house. “We keep it small. We don’t have
thousands of people. I set the tone here really early.” George is able to hold down the space and said he doesn’t get tired. He calls the small camp “the heart of the battlefield.” “The first month we were here it was just solid rain,” he said. “It was really trying at times, it really tested us. But I can’t stand going home. This is where I need to be…This is war, you can’t be getting tired.” George received his traditional name Swaysən three years ago, which means when he speaks, others will listen. And he’s ready to be heard. “Hundreds of thousands of people depend on what we’re doing here,” he said. “We’re going to stop this one, and more will follow. I’m very grateful that people are listening.” More information about the watch house and ongoing resistance efforts can be found at www.protecttheinlet.ca.
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TLA’AMIN WELCOMES 15 NEW BABIES The nation held its annual baby welcoming ceremony April 6 Photos by Phil Russell
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Tla’amin Nation welcomed 15 of their newest members on April 6 with a baby welcoming ceremony at the community’s Salish Centre. The ceremony was for all of the babies born into the community in 2017. During the event, the babies and their families were brushed with cedar by Tla’amin Elder John Louie, who explained that the ceremony is meant to honour the children and help them go forward in a good way. “We always honoured our children,” he said. “So this ceremony is recognizing (them).”
Along with the babies born in the community, other families from Tla’amin’s weekly prenatal program were also invited to participate with permission from elders, according to Nehl Motl Newspaper. In a statement printed in Nehl Motl, Tla’amin’s health promotion worker Dawn Pallen and community health nurse Sheila Paquette also raised their hands to all the families who worked hard to finish baby button blankets before the event. “We welcome these new babies into our Tla’amin Nation,” the statement said.
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Left: Shaya Harry and baby Charleigh Williams. Top Right: Linda Louie, right, with great granddaughter Taleah Louie and Eugene Louie. Bottom right: Baby Sofia Paquette, left, with Sheila Paquette and Luke Paquette. Below: (From left) Dr. Elsie Paul, Kylie Paul, baby Nathan, and Noreen Galligos Paul. Bottom: (From left) Brad Harry, Bradyn Louie, Kendall Louie, Amanda Louie and baby Brea Louie.
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Quamichan Creek Culvert Replacement “The Fish Return”
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HEALING THROUGH DANCE: PRODUCTION BRINGS COAST SALISH STORY TO LIFE A contemporary dance performance of Celestine Aleck’s sun and moon story will premiere July 5 Photos and story by Cara McKenna An upcoming dance production will tell a Coast Salish story about the sun and moon through movement and music. A contemporary dance titled The Sun and the Moon is based on Snuneymuxw author Celestine Aleck’s children’s book of the same title. The performance is being produced by Crimson Coast Dance Society and will premiere at the Port Theatre in Nanaimo on July 5 as part of the InFrinGinG Dance Festival. In the story, the sun and moon had always been together, but must make the difficult choice to part in order to expand the earth. They decide to separate for the sake of their children, but the moon takes it the hardest and falls apart. Eventually, the Creator allows the sun and moon to see each other during the eclipse and at sunrise and sunset. The beauty of those times is said to reflect the sun and moon’s great love for each other. Aleck, who was taught Coast Salish stories from her elders starting from when she was just four years old, said she wanted to experience storytelling in a different way. “Coming into this project, I really wanted to think of: what am I going to learn from this and how am I going to grow from this?” she said. The idea for the production sparked after Aleck met Crimson Coast Dance Society’s Holly Bright at Aboriginal Day celebrations a couple of years ago, and they spoke about interpreting one of Aleck’s books into a dance. But Aleck was busy at the time so the project was delayed. When they finally got together to work on the project, it came at a pivotal time as Aleck has been working through a nervous breakdown that hit her late last year. She said attending dance rehearsals has been vital for her healing journey. “I think just seeing the dancers, it’s teaching me how to love myself with how graceful and loving they are with themselves and with each other,” she said. “The sunrise and sunset also teaches us as a people that we should start our day off with love and end it with love. It’s beautiful.” Aleck said the part of the story where the moon falls apart is especially meaningful for her, because she relates to it. She’s working on writing a song to go along with that part of the dance. Continued on page 23
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“I think just seeing the dancers, it’s teaching me how to love myself with how graceful and loving they are with themselves and with each other.”
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TLA’AMIN FIRST NATION TERRITORY
Holly Bright, left, and Celestine Aleck Continued from page 20
“So I’m going to have the words and the crying to the Creator, asking for help to bring me strength and pick up the broken pieces,” she said. During a rehearsal at the Port Theatre in May, Aleck and her sister Robin watched on while Bright directed two dancers performing a run through of the piece. The dancers utilized props such as a huge gauzy sheet of fabric and animal bones. Every so often, Aleck would step in to advise. Bright, who is creating the piece along with the performers, said Aleck’s feedback has been key, because she wants to honour the story and cultural protocols while adding her own creative vision with the dance. “Celestine has been really generous with letting me have artistic freedom to bring myself to this story,” she said. “I learn so much from her…and through this exchange of our creative processes, and our different disciplines.” Though Aleck doesn’t have any background in contemporary dance, she does know about Snuneymuxw dance and movement, has been helping to integrate that into the piece. “I love that way of working that we can kind of mix and fuse, and work together to bring meaning forth to the audience that is going to be there to witness,” Bright said. The Sun and the Moon is being funded by the B.C. Arts Council and the Canada Council for the Arts. After the dance premieres on July 5, Holly and the dancers hope to bring the performance to several other festivals in the next year. More information and updates can be found at www.crimsoncoastdance.org.
Powell River penstock #4 repair and replacement project for Powell River Energy Inc. Members of the Tla’amin First Nation worked with Hazelwood to complete repairs on the 14 ft diameter, 1580 ft long, steel riveted penstock that was originally constructed in 1925. HazelwoodConstruction.com
BUILDING FIRST NATION ECONOMIES
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TLA’AMIN’S SLI CITY GRILL GOES MOBILE New truck is in partnership with a Coast Salish-owned fishing company
Erik Blaney stands by the new food truck. Photo by Cara McKenna
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The Sli City Grill restaurant at Tla’amin Nation is expanding into a food truck that will serve Indigenous-caught seafood to Powell River. The mobile grill is now open, serving a seafood-heavy menu that includes halibut burgers, prawn po’boys and elk burgers. The food truck is an expansion from the Sli City Grill’s current operation at the Tla’amin Convenience Store. Sli City Grill owner and Tla’amin member Erik Blaney said the mobile grill is a partnership with the Coast Salish-owned fishery company Salish Seas. “Salish Seas is a company that’s owned by Tla’amin, TsleilWaututh and Musqueam,” he said during an interview in early May. “They went three ways on a fishing boat, and that fishing boat now fishes tuna, halibut, cod and prawns. We’re going to get access to that fish.” Blaney said that they’ve also hired two Indigenous chefs, who have also been stepping up the menu at the convenience store location. “The menus are going to be similar, but we’re mostly focusing on seafood in the truck,” he said. A grand opening for the truck was held in mid-May, and the truck is expected to operate in the Westview area of Powell River this summer as well as taking on event and catering requests. More information on the menu and locations of the truck can be found at www.slicitygrill.com.
Photos by Rachel Snyder
SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 25
HOMALCO SOCCER SEASON WRAPS UP WITH TOURNAMENT Community held successful annual Spring event By Todd Peacey Homalco’s indoor soccer season wrapped up with an annual tournament at the nation in early May. The nation’s league is coached by Glen Pallen, a band member who has been playing soccer on Vancouver Island for more than 30 years. As a soccer coach, Glen has helped many players as young as 10 up to adults to meet their athletic goals. That includes his son Justin, who is an avid soccer player like his father. Glen encourages people of all skill levels to join in and be part of the fun. At the end of each playing season, players are recognized for their strengths and abilities at an annual tournament. Glen said that he only has four rules for his players: no sarcasm, no aggression, and most importantly, have fun. “The soccer team runs itself so long as everyone plays by the four simple rules,” Pallen said. “The oldest of our Homalco youth participating have been taught leadership roles, which is great for new players as they watch over and coach others in their team.” 26 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
SALISH SEA SENTINEL • 27
CANS FOR A CAUSE Homalco chief raises thousands for Tribal Journeys by collecting empties By Todd Peacey On any given lunch hour, Homalco Chief Darren Blaney can be seen combing the side of the highways in the Campbell River area collecting empty cans and bottles. But he’s not just cleaning up people’s litter. Darren has been collecting thousands of empties and returning them for cash as part of a fundraising effort for the upcoming Tribal Canoe Journey. Darren has been fundraising with cans and bottles for about 10 years. Last year, between collecting empties and raffling off masks and jewelry that he made, he managed to raise more than $2,600 for Homalco. “It costs a lot of money to go on these trips and not everyone can afford to go,” he said. “The can collecting is kind of a meditation, in a way, for me. It helps me to clear my mind after a long day at the office.” Darren strongly believes in culture and promotes it in any way he can. He makes a year-round effort to help those who are part of the canoe journey. His fundraising efforts don’t go unnoticed for this highly meaningful and rewarding cause. 28 • SALISH SEA SENTINEL
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