"Bring Kleenex," is Ed Hill's succinct advice for the novice planning to take part in Pulling Together.
The annual canoe voyage began as a way to bridge the gap between Native people and police. Hill, a retired RCMP S/Sgt., was instrumental in beginning the yearly event in 2001.
The history of this event began in 1997. That year Hill organized and participated in Vision Quest, a canoe journey that travelled down the west coast of B.C. An epic voyage, the trip brought together RCMP officers and Aboriginal people.
The trip terminated in Victoria. In 1998 the canoes travelled from Vancouver to Powell River to visit all the places they'd missed the previous year. The group was unable to travel around Gambier Island because of high winds. Hill promised to come back the next year and visit the island, which he did.
News of the paddles began to get around. The following year his old posting of Hope was looking for a unique way to celebrate the town's summer festival, Brigade Days. The detachment asked Hill to bring the RCMP canoe for the annual parade.
Hill, being the stickler for tradition he is, decided the only proper way to bring the canoe was by water. He took the canoe from Yale to the Chawathil Reserve, downstream about five miles from Hope. "We did the arrival in exactly the way we had been taught in 1997. We asked the chief to come ashore, stern first. We backed in, the friendly, non-confrontation way," Hill said.
He noticed several of the elders, mostly women, crying. When he questioned the tears, the chief said the women remembered being little girls and watching visiting canoes land in the same manner.
"They never thought they would see in their lifetimes the canoes coming down the river again," the chief told Hill.
Hill decided then and there to bring the canoes back to life in the ancient manner. When he told the chief his decision, the reply was, "That would be nice."
"Those four words were the birth of Pulling Together," Hill explains.
This year, for the first time since the canoe trips began in 2001, the voyage will take place entirely on the ocean, and even more exciting for local people, the journey will go down the Sunshine Coast beginning in Powell River.
For many who partake, the trip is a life-altering experience. For the Aboriginal peoples it's a chance to rediscover their culture. For the police it's an opportunity to better understand Aboriginal people. Along with those two groups various other people from B.C. will be along to paddle and provide the ground support needed to make the trip a success.
Each year a different police department heads up the trip. This year's organizers are from the Vancouver City Police Department led by Insp. Eric Grummisch and Const. Vinnie Forsberg. The police representatives will also include four Lower Sunshine Coast members, Sgt. Gerry Webb, Const. Chris Pillsworth, Const. Tracy Dubnyk and Const. Kelly Allan, along with police from Delta, West Vancouver, Abbotsford, Vancouver, Port Moody and CP officers and various RCMP detachments.
This year's theme is "Working Together with First Nations." During the paddle, Hill said the participants become a family.
"You are living that life. After a while you begin to think you could travel and live like that indefinitely," Hill noted.This year the trip begins June 24 at the Sliammon Band of Powell River. On June 26 there is the push-off from Willingdon Beach and a paddle of 11 nautical miles to Laing Bay. June 27 sees a paddle of nine nautical miles to Saltery Bay. The next day the group paddles to Egmont. The community is busy planning special events for the paddlers. Hill is greatly encouraged by the excitement the trip is generating in the home of the Skookumchuck.
June 29 sees the paddlers leave Egmont early and make the 18-mile trip to Sechelt. Following the ancient protocol of the Sechelt people, at least two of the canoes will be portaged through Sechelt. The next day is a 12.5-mile trip to Gibsons. The trip ends with a paddle to Vancouver on Canada Day.
Local sailors and boaters who would like to accompany the paddlers on any leg of the voyage are welcome to do so.
For the paddlers, the crunch is on now to get ready. According to Hill the physical part is easy. The difficult part is the emotional aspect. "Bring Kleenex," he said.
