It started off slowly in the shiny, new Great Hall on the UBC campus. Native people arrived, carrying blankets, carved and painted masks, a buffalo skull, hands drums and regalia. Friends greeted each other with laughter and hugs.
Chief Beau Dick strolled through, continuously welcoming arrivals, answering his cell phone and providing a mobile focal point for the festivities.
This two day event was sparked by a conversation in 2013 between Beau and his daughters, Linnea and Geraldine. They all decided to support Idle No More, the indigenous treaty rights protest movement. They traveled with other companions from Quatsino, an isolated village on Vancouver Island, to Victoria, the provincial seat of government, to break a copper in the Kwakwaka'wakw tradition on the steps of the provincial government building,. calling out the government for having committed unconscionable acts.
Like a rock dropped into a pond, the ripples from Beau, Linnea and Geraldine's decision have spread far and risen high.
Awalaskenis, the name given to the 2013 and 2014 journeys, was also Beau's father, Blackie Dick's, name. It means “to make a great statement.”
Chief Beau Dick strolled through, continuously welcoming arrivals, answering his cell phone and providing a mobile focal point for the festivities.
This two day event was sparked by a conversation in 2013 between Beau and his daughters, Linnea and Geraldine. They all decided to support Idle No More, the indigenous treaty rights protest movement. They traveled with other companions from Quatsino, an isolated village on Vancouver Island, to Victoria, the provincial seat of government, to break a copper in the Kwakwaka'wakw tradition on the steps of the provincial government building,. calling out the government for having committed unconscionable acts.
Like a rock dropped into a pond, the ripples from Beau, Linnea and Geraldine's decision have spread far and risen high.
Awalaskenis, the name given to the 2013 and 2014 journeys, was also Beau's father, Blackie Dick's, name. It means “to make a great statement.”
Elders seated at Lalakenis
In the Great Hall matriarchs and other elders found their seats in the front row, in potlatch fashion. And so Lalakenis/All Directions began.
Chief Robert Joseph giving the opening prayer at Lalakenis
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Chief Robert Joseph of Reconciliation Canada, known affectionately as Bobbie Joe, spoke movingly to the gathered people about healing and love. Robert Willams, Beau’s nephew and the Master of Ceremonies, introduced the attending chiefs. Each chief came forward to acknowledge the presence of the matriarchs and that we were on “unceded” Musqueam territory, a very important distinction. This politically charged adjective describes land never signed away through treaty or conquered by war. The “unceded” distinction lies at the heart of a vast resurgence of indigenous environmentalism grounded in ancient beliefs and now upheld by Canada’s Supreme Court. It was the catalyst of a cultural, political and spiritual explosion. |
Twelve hours we listened with rapt attention, feeling the strength, healing and resilience of all the participants, on a roller coaster of emotions, responding to songs, stories and dances.
- Giindajin Haawasti Guujaaw, the Haida carver and former president of the Haida Nation and maker of Taaw, the copper, recounted his story of the Journeys.
- High-energy Fancy Dancers from the plains brought smiles and raised the vitality felt into the hall.
Chief Beau Dick and Guujaaw of the Haida Nation, maker of the copper Taaw
Buffalo altar made by Gyauustees of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh , Nuu-chah-nulth & Kwakwaka'wakw tribal people and his wife Jasmin Starrchild
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Fancy Dancer
Beau Dick with one of the babies receiving their tribal name
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- Gyauustees of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh , Nuu-chah-nulth & Kwakwaka'wakw tribal people and his wife created a sacred altar with buffalo skin and pipe, eagle flutes and burning of sacred herbs and the graced everyone present with a pipe ceremony, encircled by members of the audience carefully selected by Chief Beau Dick.
- Many ceremonies honored indigenous students who had earned degrees and come back to help their people. Difficult personal and political subjects were aired, witnessed, and responded to with love, compassion and patience.
- Babies received their first tribal names while the audience created a great chorus when Robert Williams asked us to repeat the names they were given. Laughter at the cooing babies mixed with their loud cries and created a warm family environment.
Beau’s warmth and generosity was encouraging, inclusive and relaxed. He was honored by many, including two young people who gifted the chief with a handsome hat and a vest emblazoned with a copper commemorating Awalaskenis and the momentous journeys of 2013 and 2014. Beau’s mother, a matriarch, was present. Beau, in an emotional ceremony, bestowed one of his mother's Kwakwaka’wakw names on LaTiesha Fazakas, a gallery owner who has steadfastly supported Beau and had traveled with the group from Quatsino to Victoria.
Beau Dick dancing in the new vest and hat
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Chief Beau Dick with the broken copper
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Chief Beau Dick bestowing a Kwakwaka'wakw name on LaTiesha Fazakas
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Beau playing slide steel for event
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Throughout the Ceremony and Feast, the stories and images of the copper shields broken on the buildings’ steps in Victoria BC and at Ottawa’s National Parliament were recalled in heart-stirring detail. These sacred journeys and the traditional, ceremonial breaking of the copper shields raised the stakes over indigenous treaty rights and the environment by shaming the Canadian Government. The broken coppers have been and are a potent First Nations symbol of a ruptured relationship that must be mended.
Gratification for the integrity shown by the participants through their journeys bloomed throughout the hall among native and non-native alike.
Gratification for the integrity shown by the participants through their journeys bloomed throughout the hall among native and non-native alike.