Strong Start is a program
put on by the Province. It’s a free
program designed with activities such as stories, music and art, to help
children grow linguistically, physically, socially, emotionally... it runs every day and is open to parents and
their pre-kindergarten children and while Chicken Little is still too young to
partake in much of the fun it’s a great way for his mother to get out of the
house and socialize with other mothers.
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Gathering Strength Canoe
Journey
North Coast 2009
|
Here in the rain capital
of the universe we are fortunate to have a rich First Nations culture. The beating of drums, pounding of feet and
the accompanying vocables is a part and
parcel to this place. I have lived in
witness to the hypnotic sounds of the aboriginal drums my whole life, and a
couple years ago I was fortunate enough to participate in a canoe journey . Six Canoes each capable of carrying up to 12
people from the communities of the Nisga’a Nation, the Haisla, Gitgatla and the
Gitga’at came together to renew their heritage and build community networks.
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Gathering
Strength Canoe Journey
North
Coast 2009
|
An exquisite example of
form and function, the canoe is inextricably twined with our nation’s
story. For Canadians, to canoe is to be
moved. In one of those canoes I paddled 115 nautical
miles in 6 days. We stopped in the
evenings to camp and sat around fires on the beach – singing, drumming, dancing
and listening to the legends of the First Nations people.
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Gathering
Strength Canoe Journey
North
Coast 2009
|
Some nights the tents
rubbed up against each other in the small spaces we could find flat enough and
clear enough to make camp. Other nights
we sank into thick moss softer than any feather bed, tents spaced randomly like
so many hobbit holes tucked in among the trees and the moss covered old growth
stumps.
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Gathering
Strength Canoe Journey
North
Coast 2009
|
At the end of our long
route we were welcomed with feasting and drumming and dancing in a small
isolated community called Kitlakatla, on Dolphin Island, off the coast of
northern B.C. We were honoured with the
traditional foods of the community including seal, roe-on-kelp, eulachon
grease, smoked salmon and heaps of boiled crab. We called ourselves the mighty paddlers, the
people of one nation. Chanting, singing
to the pounding drums and dancing in the traditional fashion, bare feet
slapping on the floor. Dancing and celebrating late into the night.
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Gathering
Strength Canoe Journey
North
Coast 2009
|
Ok ok... nice story and
all that... but what the heck does to do with Strong Start??
Well the lady who runs one
of the local strong start programs is from that tiny little community of Kitlakatla
and she decided to bring her culture to our Strong Start group. The project... traditional Elk Hide rattles.
This of course peaked my artistic
side and I jumped all over like my dog upon seeing a mud puddle! I cut out
my circles of hide and soaked and stitched and Voila! A Rattle.. and of
course I couldn’t leave it at that. I insisted
that the rattle needed to be painted much like the First Nations paint their
drums. But since I can’t claim the
traditional art of the First Nations with it’s unique and stylized forms,
colours and subjects. (for a better look
at the local art styles see : http://www.tsimshian-gallery.com/cms/drums-sticks/ or http://www.pathgallery.com/itoolkit.asp?pg=products&grp=5) I
decided to put the little hand prints of Chicken Little on my rattle... and so while he slept – at strong start – on
the floor - on an old shower curtain appropriated for the purpose - I painted his little hands and took hand
prints. Then transferred the best of
them onto the rattle using acrylic gel gloss medium... the result...fabulous!!!
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A Child’s Rattle
©RiverWalker Arts
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“Life is the sacred
mystery singing to itself, dancing to its drum, telling tales, improvising,
playing”
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