Music in the Landing, a summer concert series supported by the Town of Gibsons, will on July 16 feature a return performance of a group that uses the power of song and story to do more than entertain.
The Squamish Ocean Canoe Family regularly participates in the Tribal Canoe Journeys, an annual event that unites Indigenous paddlers from across the Pacific Northwest. Since 1989, First Nations groups have used the event to teach traditional canoe-building and seamanship skills to emerging generations.
In addition to paddling together, members of the Squamish Ocean Canoe Family are committed to sharing Skwxwú7mesh culture through traditional songs and dances. During their appearance in Winegarden Park in the summer of 2021, they drew audiences to their feet to participate.
According to Alroy “Bucky” Baker, a speaker for the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) whose traditional name is K’etximtn, the journey has special significance for some of its participants that have struggled with substance addiction.
“Founders of the Tribal Canoe Journeys were talking and asking, ‘How can we help those people get back to their culture?’” Baker said.
“In the beginning, there were only three or four canoes. And after the first year, they decided to do it every year, so the children and youth would stay in their culture and not go back to drugs and alcohol.”
The craft used by the Squamish Ocean Canoe Family was launched in 1993 for a maiden voyage to Bella Bella. It was carved by Cedric Billy from an old-growth tree believed to be 700 years old.
Paddlers commit to living lives free of drugs and alcohol. The group is based at the Mosquito Creek Marina in North Vancouver.
After an unbroken series of annual canoe journeys, the voyages in 2020 and 2021 were canceled due to COVID-19 health restrictions. For the 2022 trip, paddlers will converge at the Muckleshoot Nation, whose territory is located northeast of Tacoma, Washington.
For the Winegarden Park performance on July 16, approximately a dozen Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw members will travel from Vancouver’s North Shore, bringing traditional regalia and drums.
“We’ll be sharing our songs and dances and a couple of legends,” said Baker. “We want to pay homage to some of the animals. We’ll tell the history of Gibsons, as well as the first creation of the Squamish [people].”
The Gibsons townsite is within the traditional territory of the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw. Two villages, named Schen’k and Ch’kw’elhp, were located between today’s Gibsons waterfront and Port Mellon. Stone artifacts provide a record of habitation as long as 10,000 years.
Although the Music in the Landing concerts are presented free of charge, the Squamish Ocean Canoe Family will invite donations to support the group’s life-changing initiatives.
“Everybody that’s on the journey heals from whatever may be ailing them,” said Baker. “That’s why the journey happens.”
The Squamish Ocean Canoe Family presentation begins at 3:30 p.m. on July 16 in Winegarden Park. Music in Landing will continue at 7 p.m. with a performance by Mimosa, a local quintet specializing in jazz, Brazilian sambas, French 60s pop and cabaret music.
