Canoe culture makes triumphant return to Musqueam Band after 30 years

It was 1985 the last time the Musqueam people watched a canoe carved freshly by one of their own launch onto the Mighty Fraser.

That changed Saturday with a lively ceremony to send off a 36-foot cedar “journey canoe,” the product of a three-month project led by the Musqueam Indian Band and the University of B.C.’s departments of social work, education and forestry.

Since April 28, master carver Dick Louis worked under the mentorship of 86-year-old Elmer Simpson using chisels, chainsaws, grinders and planes to turn a 350-year-old cedar log from Vancouver Island into a beautiful, seaworthy vessel, ready for a summer paddle on the Fraser River.

“It’s a real special moment to us,” Louis said. “We haven’t had a canoe built on this reserve in 30 years or more because our canoe builders all passed away, and with them we almost lost our canoemanship.”

The Musqueam Indian Band launched the first canoe made on the reserve in 30 years Saturday.

Following a smudging ceremony, Chief Wayne Sparrow was beaming as the canoe’s stern dipped into the Fraser with Louis and seven other men and women aboard. The smell of cedar wafted across the river’s bank as tugboats cruised past, their wakes lapping at the canoe’s natural-wood hull.

Vancouver police paddled close by in support of the launch. As if on cue, a seal popped its head to the river’s surface, to the delight of children playing on the river’s bank while their parents and elders sang, cheered and beat drums close by during the canoe’s half-hour trip.

Sparrow said it was “awesome” to watch the crew speeding up the Fraser.

“To see them and witness them out on the water like that brings back so many memories,” he said. “It’s been over 30 years for us to revitalize our culture and our teachings to get our young kids back interested in the journey canoe.”

Councillor Howard E. Grant said watching the launch Saturday brought back memories of his ancestors, who long ago paddled flat-bottom canoes to fish for sturgeon, war canoes to protect their land and deep-sea vessels to navigate the Salish Sea.

“I think many of us had either tears flowing or a lump in our throat, because it brought back memories of what we saw coming down the river with our past elders and teachers,” he said. “It really bonds you with the foundation of who you are.”

neagland@postmedia.com

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