Dragon Boat Fun

Our semester group is now complete. We have a diverse group of new additions:

Heather-a 19 year old Environmental engineering student who grew up on Saltspring Island, but studies at Queens University. Heather appears to be quite reserved and in need of independent space like me, and opted for the other kitchenette suite tucked away. Heather is a twin, and small town girl, but a very positive addition to the crew.

Elisabeth ("with an S" lol)- Elisabeth is a lovably eccentric character. She is an obvious wanderer, who wasn't even supposed to be taking the course up until a few days before classes began. She was on a Greyhound, returning from Manitoba to Lakehead University, where she studies in Thunder Bay, ON when she decided that life needed her in Haida Gwaii....so she called her forestry program director at Lakehead and told them she wasn't coming back to study that semester! Meanwhile, she booked Greyhounds all the way to Vancouver and hopped on a flight that brought her to Masset, at the NorthEast corner of Haida Gwaii. After three full days on buses and an overnight at YVR, Elisabeth was still in good spirits when we picked her up at Masset airport. She gave us a hilarious rendition of her journies, and after living with her for the past few days, Ive realized the girl lives on coffee, cigarettes and 5 cent candies. She is a quirky one, but VERY lovable. She doesn't handshake, she hugs :) Elisabeth is now Ally's roommate in the upstairs, communal part of our lovely house.

Chris-a non-First Nations Haida Gwaii local, who is a special needs teacher and counsellor with the local highschool here in Village of Queen Charlotte. Chris has had some bad luck in the past few years with the unfortunate combination of an autoimmune disease coupled with a reaction to ibuprofen that ate away at his flesh and caused him to lose most of his eyesight and go into a coma. Despite having to endure skin grafts and numerous surgeries, Chris has perservered through it all, and is a confident and vibrant individual. The guy is one of the most talkative people I have ever met and is a wealth of knowledge about the island and Native ancestry!

Emily-Skye - a 21 year old anthropology major attending UNBC in Prince George, Emily grew up in Haida Gwaii, but moved out East to Ontario when she was in elementary school. She has always felt a great connection to the land and the people here and always knew she would one day make it back to the island. Even though she has a couple more semesters to go in PG, Emily is so passionate about Haida Gwaii and has a beautifully positive spirit about her.

Lynn- a First Nations local who grew up on the island, Lynn is the fellow classmate I know the least about, since she doesn't live with us or drive to school with us, but she works for a natural resource company-I forget the exact resource, but know she spends alot of time out in field, as she is constantly saying that she feels like the luckiest woman alive to be spending that much time in the bush. Lynn always gives great First Nation perspective into our class discussions thus far and I am excited to hear more about the history of this beautiful land.

Chris, Emily and Lynn all live in their own homes on the island, and thus are not residing in our cozy B&B.

The group of nine of us began classes this week. Our first 2.5 week module is on the politics of forest management. We have really delved into such questions as "What is history...?" and "What is wilderness...?" based on readings we have had to do. We basically ponder and discuss and share and interpret for 3 and a half hours per day on these type of abstract concepts. I have realized even in the past two days that this type of learning is invaluable and the intimate small group setting is really causing us to gain perspectives and viewpoints we never thought were possible.

Today at the conclusion of our class-i.e. intense chatting session- instead of hopping into our bus and heading home, we got invited by some of the box and paddle carving students at the Kaay centre to inaugarate the new dragon boats they have. Of course we jumped at the chance to get out on the peaceful and calm water lapping up onto the shores of our study hall. About 20 of us worked together to drag the boat into the glistening afternoon waters and piled into this large Native dragon boat, beginning the paddle out to Skidegate. After about a 15-20min paddle, we reached shoreline in front of one of the Council of the Haida Nation meeting buildings and began to salute the elders within the building by banging the butt end of our paddles in unison on the side of the boat (a typical gesture of respect to the elders). The elders waved back to us in acknowledgement, and we proceeded to return to the Kaay centre in a peaceful and content fashion. Again, once we were close to shore, we all worked together to get the giant boat back onto shore and I felt like I was thrown back a few centuries into the days when this was an every day occurence for great tribes to work as a team to paddle their way from one destination to another...exploring, transporting, escaping, searching.

Exploring the workings of another culture is a beautiful thing.