Building relationships was the theme of Saturday鈥檚 canoe-waking ceremony and the purpose behind the three canoes that sat in the 麻豆传媒映画Police Department鈥檚 parking lot for the occasion.
Speakers from Squamish Nation and the VPD stood in front of the crowd of cadets and members of the public and acknowledged how much relations between the province鈥檚 native communities and police have improved through recent years, a long journey from uneasy beginnings that stemmed from a combination of mistreatment, mistrust and misunderstanding.
It鈥檚 through programs such as the Pulling Together canoe trip where police and First Nations team up to paddle over a days-long excursion through local waterways. This year鈥檚 journey is the 15th annual one and is planned for July 2 to 11 from Mount Currey to Mission, with some portaging.
The VPD canoe is named NCH鈥�7MUT (pronounced In-CHOTE-Mote) which means One Heart, One Mind, and was 鈥渁wakened鈥� by members of the Squamish Nation and the VPD Canoe Club members who dipped cedar boughs into water and used them to brush over the VPD鈥檚 and Collingwood Aboriginal Youth Canoe Club鈥檚 vessels while members from Squamish Nation drummed and sang.
It鈥檚 a Coast Salish tradition for canoes to be 鈥渨oken鈥� before being launched into the water after being stored over the winter. Cedar is used in homage to the tree used to build the canoe, explained Alroy Baker, spokesperson for the Squamish Ocean Canoe Family.
鈥淲hen we wake them up, we take off any feelings left on the canoe 鈥� any negative feelings so when we go onto the waters for the first time they鈥檙e not going to come on to our spirit and make it a harder pull,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e use cedar to honour the spirit of the canoe as it鈥檚 built out of a cedar tree so we鈥檙e keeping the spirit of the tree alive as well.鈥�
The Pulling Together program started in 1997 and includes 麻豆传媒映画police, RCMP, other public service employees such as fisheries officers and native communities from the Lower Mainland, 麻豆传媒映画Island and the Sunshine Coast.聽 More than 500 aboriginal youth in B.C. have participated in the trip since its beginning, working alongside law enforcement, which is a completely new experience for many of the kids involved.
VPD aboriginal liaison officer Const. Richard Lavallee recalled his first Pulling Together canoe trip 10 years ago.
鈥淚 signed up, loved it and stuck with it. I ended up training to be a skipper,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of these youth are troubled youth and have never had a good relationship with police but it humanizes us. We鈥檙e family for 12 days, it brings us together.鈥�
Lavallee, who is part Cree and part French and hails from northern Manitoba, said forging relationships is what makes the journey, what he calls, an 鈥渁mazing experience.鈥�
鈥淭here was one youth who didn鈥檛 like police at all and I made a point of getting to know him. It took a few days but by the end of the journey, the anger had melted away,鈥� he said. 鈥淎t the end of the journey, we parted as friends.鈥�
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