When visiting Vancouver Island, British Columbia, we experienced a traveling exhibit about the resurgence of Indigenous canoe culture around areas in the Pacific Northwest.

The exhibit, “Sacred Journey,” describes how the culture and traditions around ocean-going canoes almost disappeared in the 1900s but is now experiencing renewed interest and commitment, partly due to efforts being led by members of the Heiltsuk Nation of British Columbia. 

The Heiltsuk are a seafaring people with more than 14,000 years of continuous use of territorial waters along the Pacific Northwest Coast.  For thousands of years, the Heiltsuk's traditional ocean-going canoe (“Glwa") was their main means of transportation. It was essential both for sustenance and for developing unique social and ceremonial life.  The Glwa was part of their sacred traditions.

As Heiltsuk Nation member Ian Reid stated in one of the exhibit's video segments: "The Glwa was like one of our arteries in our heart. We needed that part to keep us going. That's what kept us alive and kept us moving." 

Over time, however, the Glwa was eventually overshadowed and replaced by motorized transportation and by a widespread dismissal of Indigenous cultures as well as assimilatory government policies. Crafting canoes and piloting them became almost a forgotten way of life.

Frank Brown, the hereditary chief of the Heiltsuk Nation, played a key role in their resurgence and organized the first revitalized canoe journey as a part of Expo ’86 held in Vancouver. Brown remembers the summer of ‘86 well:

"The theme of Expo ‘86 was Transportation and Communication, and I didn’t feel like we were being represented or had a voice. I was just a young man at the time and working at the friendship center in Vancouver before starting college and I said ‘We should carve a canoe and paddle it down the coast so that people could know who we are as Native people.’ And we did."

Soon after this that the Heiltsuk delegation invited all the Indigenous Maritime Nations of the Northwest Coast and the Pacific Rim to paddle to Bella Bella for a special canoe gathering 1993 (Qatuwas Festival). Out of this, "Tribal Journeys" was established for sponsoring annual canoe gatherings created especially for Indigenous youth experiences. These have continued on a yearly basis ever since.

According to Tribal Journeys:

"For over [30] years the Tribal Journeys have transformed thousands of our youth. It has helped them to reconnect to their culture and heritage and has strengthened their confidence as contemporary First Nation people with a longstanding history.

On their voyage, the pullers learn a lot about the traditional ecological knowledge, our environmental stewardship, about weather and tides. Being exposed to the forces of ocean and weather during the journey as our forefathers used to be, has inspired the crews of our canoes. They gain respect for the ocean and its power, and how to work together as a team building on individual strengths."

Chief Frank Brown agrees:

“It endears [our territories] into the hearts of our young people so that when it comes time and they’re called upon to stand up for those resources that we depend on, and that environment, then the community has a very strong ethic and a value and a commitment, because they’re practicing the lifestyle. They learn that they can continue to achieve their destination, their goals, if they continue to move forward one, stroke at a time in a positive way.”

For more information, see Tribal Canoe Journey and the Sacred Journey travelling exhibit website.