This is Work

My work this summer has me half of the time at the Tsawout reserve working from the office of an alliance of 4 First Nations. Most of the time I just sit in the office and do my stuff while I absorb the atmosphere around me. A couple of weeks ago, however, was a canoe blessing ceremony for a brand new dugout canoe that a few men from Tsawout built. This is it. The name means mermaid in the Sencot'en language.

The blessing ceremony involved dancers in regalia, which noone was allowed to take pictures of. Then the canoe was loaded onto a flatbed trailer and taken down to Saanichton Bay for its first dip into the ocean.

Last week I also had the opportunity to observe a meeting with Tsawwassen in the Tsawout longhouse. The meeting was to do with the Tsawwassen treaty, and was from what I gather a momentous first step towards nation-to-nation talks in a more traditional setting than the typical hotel conference room. The treaty commissioner was there and said something to this effect. I feel so lucky to be a part of things like this.

Another interesting day at work had me out with the archaeologists on a beautiful day on Sidney Spit. We didn't find anything earth-shattering, but I learned about "cores", that are distinct basalt rocks that have been hit so that flakes will come off with sharp edges on them to be used as tools or weapons. It also got me out of the office enjoying the sunshine.