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FESTIVAL TO CELEBRATE
PRIDE OF FIRST PEOPLE

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' Eventually, the Europeans abused
that friendliness. Indians were herded
onto reservations, locked into repressive
schools, and forced to adhere to an alien,
harsh, discriminatory system of govern-
ment. But the aboriginal tradition of
friendliness, of sharing, continues.

The tradition is epitomized by
Victoria’s First Peoples Festival, an
event which brings together people of
various cultures. Krystal Cook, or-
ganizer of the sixth annual festival, says
continuing the tradition of hospitality is
one of the festival's primary goals. Co-

‘Wponsored by the Victoria Native
Friendship Centre and the Royal British
Columbia Museum, the three-day event
has grown from a little-known two-day

» festival into a cultural celebration ex-
pected to attract more than 20,000
people. ©

“It's a chance to share ourselves with
the public in a way we usually can’t do,”
Cook says about the festival. “While
were doing this, our culture is accepted
and other people have the chance to
share their culture with us. It’s a chance
for people to understand each other.”

The festival, which has no admission
fee and charges minimal prices only for
food and afew events, is organized by the

_Native Friendship Centre and held at
@the Royal British Columbia Museum
during the weekend. Unlike many eth-
nic festivals, the First Peoples Festival
does not limit itself to selling samples of
food from a particular culture or to
giving dance demonstrations without
explanations of the dance's cultural sig-
nificance. Indian-style barbequed sal-
mon, bannock and chowder is sold and
®Pative dancers perform, but native
elders also tell stories, native artisans
demonstrate their skills, and museum
displays (subject to regular museum ad-
Mission charges) provide information
about British Columbian aboriginals.

Thirty-six-foot long Nuu-Chah-Nulth
whaling canoes will take people around
the Inner Harbour while guides point

s out places important to native groups.

_ For people who want to learn history in
a more traditional format, there will be
slide presentations about the explora-
tion of traditional Indian territories.

“Not many people know how things
really were with my people,” Tatoosh
explains. He’s one of the Festival story-
tellers. “On my first day of high school, I
was called a wagon burner. I remember
this. I was condemned for what people
saw on Movies.”

q

‘The big strong eagle boasted that he
could beat the little hummingbird in a
race. But during the race, thecleverhum-

gq mingbird flew up onto the eagle’s
* shoulder: The eagle kept thinking Imust
be very far ahead of my little friend,” so
he turned to see where the hummingbird
was. Of course, he couldn? see the small
creature, and he thought the hum-
mingbird had been too tired to continue
the race. “I dont have to bother going on,”
the eagle said, and he turned away. So
the hummingbird flew away from the
eagle's shoulder and continued on to the
finish line. He won the race. That story is
told because people should know never to
boast: there are always people as good as
you and they can disprove your boastful

words.”

ing “I must be very far ahead of my
litile friend,” so he turned to see where
the hummingbird was. Of course, he
couldnt see the small creature, and he
thought the hummingbird had been
too tired to continue the race. “I dont
have to bother going on,” the eagle
said, and he turned away. So the

Indian school children were
punished for speaking their language
(Tatoosh recalls being locked in a
closet when he spoke his native
tongue at a United Church boarding
school). Potlatches — ceremonial
gatherings crucial to Indian religious
and social rituals — were forbidden,

BANDING TOGETHER to restore a rich culture, these people show various
aspects of their art: the capes, masks, and dances are accompanied by

traditional music and relate the history of the Indian people.

The philosophy of that tale prevented
Indian people from bragging about their
culture to white settlers who imposed
European beliefs upon them. As well, an

epidemic of smallpox in 1862 wiped out -

between half and two-thirds of B.C’s
native population. In some com-
munities, 90 per cent of the Indian
population died of smallpox. Many ofthe
highest-ranking Indians died and the
aboriginal populace was left without
leaders to defend its land, rituals, and
arts. :

Indian school children were punished
for speaking their language (Tatoosh

recalls being locked in a closet when he ~

spoke his native tongue at a United
Church boarding school). Potlatches —
ceremonial gatherings crucial to Indian
religious and social rituals — were for-
bidden, and the once-nomadic
aboriginals were forced to comply with
legislation that confined them to certain
properties and regulated their financial

and political affairs. Indians were not
permitted to vote in provincial elections
until 1949 and — even though the
federal government controlled Indian
affairs — they: were not allowed to vote
on federal issues until 1960.

In the 128 years since the epidemic,
natives have gradually been compelled
to give up control of themselves and,
consequently, of their heritage. But,
though Indians have been discouraged
from pursuing.a cultural richness that
impressed even the earliest explorers,
some B.C. natives are proving that what
goes around comes around.

Claims to two-thirds of B.C.’s land
mass are being made, reserves are
eliminating problems which have held
back their people (the Beecher Bay
Band, near Sooke, had a 100 per cent
alcoholism rate only three years ago but
has reduced that to the point where only
two or three people use alcohol) and
native artists and carvers are creating

strong non-native markets for their
work. Schools such as Saanich’s Lauel-
new Elementary stress traditional na-
tive values and focus upon native
languages and arts. Young people, used
to modern ways, are looking to native
elders for a sense of identity.

“We'renow more willing to push for our
culture,” says 19-year old Cook, a
Nimpkish Band member who grew up
in Alert Bay. “Peoplemy age are thinking
that we can’t stand up for native rights
and culture if we don’t know what the
cultureis. So we're getting back toit, and
we want to share it with other people.”

Wearing a chic black blazer and a red
shirt with the popular“ROOTS’emblem
emblazoned across the chest, Cook per-
fectly exemplifies the dichotomy of
modern Indian youth. A provincial
champion soccer player and a recently-
discovered model, she has completed one
year of Camosun College English and
Psychology studies but spends much of
her time listening to the stories and
reminiscences of native elders. And

~ though white culture tried to assimilate

past generations of native teenagers,
Cook answers “I’m a Canadian Indian”
to all questions about her ethnic back-
ground.

Dr. George Louis, an Ahousat elder
who works in the provincial museum’s
ethnology department, agrees that
younger generations are beginning to
take an interest in their culture. Like
Cook; he believes the resurgence can be
partially attributed to natives’ increas-
ing political strength and to people like
Elijah Harper who have adapted them-
selves to mainstream systems but main-
tained ethnic pride as a priority.

But the festival story-teller also points
out that, just as many Indian legends
suggest, everything changes. For most
people, reviving native culture will not
mean tromping across more than acre of
ground to find enough of the hemlock
root needed to produce a small bit of
green dye. It will not mean taking nine
months to craft a canoe that must then
carefully, evenly, be burned along the
bottom so that the resulting wood
renders the boat sea-worthy.:

“Kiven before the white man came, we
had tools,”Louis says. “Now, we use some
white man’s magic.” He laughs, moving
his hands to suggest cutting with a
power saw.

When the difference between carving
one or two totems or masks is several
hundred dollars, there’s an obvious in-
centive to use tools which allow the work

to be done more quickly. And while the’

practice of selling native art is criticized
by some, Louis says there have always
been people who supported themselves
by their artistic talent. Even before
Europeans wanted to buy Indian works,
people specialized in canoe or harpoon
design or made the masks, totems, and
ceremonial clothes and ornaments that
are the hallmark of each native family.
What has changed is the respect ac-
corded Indian artefacts. As early as the
30s, scholars wrote that native art
should not be confined to museums as
relics but should be treated as samples
of high-quality fine art. The average
non-native, however, looked upon the
works as trinkets and mistakenly as-
sumed that Indians worshipped them.
“People think we worship the thunder-

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