In August 1993, my family and l travelled to Waglisla for a Qatuwas. The translation is a people gathering together. People arrived from as far away as Alaska and California for this gathering; people arrived by canoe in the thousands. Many more came by ferry or private boat. We went by ferry, and as we arrived, we could see my wife’s uncle dancing on the wharf as we docked. We asked him if he was dancing for the folks on the ferry, but he said he was dancing to welcome his family. My wife’s uncle was Woyala, which means the highest, and he was the Head Hereditary Chief of the Heiltsuk Nation, but he was always Uncle Toby to us.
The gathering was 7 days long, and each night there was a feast presented by one of the nations gathered there, followed by traditional dances telling stories of days gone by. The nation doing the feast danced all night; sometimes the nights would go on until daylight with dancing still happening. It was incredible. On the 2nd day, Roy Vickers asked me if I could set up a chance for him to meet Uncle Toby informally. I talked to Toby, and he was excited, so Roy came over the next day with his wife and son, and we all spent the afternoon visiting. Roy is related to my wife, and this was my first time meeting him; he was such a gentleman.
On the last night of the Qatuwas, at the end of the traditional dancing, a huge dance screen was set up and much music from the hit TV program was there, playing modern dance videos and music; this was for the youth in the village. It was quite surreal as most of these youths were still in their regalia, but now we’re dancing to modern music and songs. Hundreds of teenagers, in regalia, dancing to the likes of Peter Gabriel and Tom Petty, l will never see something like this again. I had run out of film.
The Heiltsuk First Nation lives in the village of Bella Bella (Waglisla), which is located about 160 km north of Port Hardy and about 120 km west of Bella Coola. The Heiltsuk traditionally occupied 21000 square km of land and sea on B.C.´s coastal Inside Passage. Bella Bella is the Government name for the community; Waglisla is the largest of the 23 reserves set aside in 1913 for the exclusive use of the Heiltsuk. The village located on Campbell Island is amalgamated from all Heiltsuk tribes who occupied numerous large winter and spring villages and associated sites spread throughout this traditional territory.
There are approximately 1500 residents in Waglisla. The primary industries for the Heiltsuk economy are forestry and seasonal fisheries, including shellfish, groundfish, herring, salmon and other marine resources. For many decades, Heiltsuk people have had a thriving fishery to rely upon, with employment in commercial fishing, fish processing, and a salmon hatchery. Due to dramatic changes in the fishery in the past several years, the entire fishing-based economy is now extremely fragile and threatens this traditional way of life.
Many artists in the community do quite nicely with the tourist trade, and Eco-tourism is gaining popularity with the Great Bear Forest being the biggest draw. The chance to see a spirit bear is very exciting to these new-breed tourists. Whale watching and diving are two other burgeoning industries that are becoming common in the area.
Basketball is easily the most popular pastime in Bella Bella due to its all-year-round playing season following the construction of the new Community Hall. The men’s and women’s teams travel year-round to various tournaments along the coast.
Over the next year and a half, I partook in many art shows in both privately owned galleries and public Shows. One show in Victoria was pretty cool; we had a feast for the visitors, and then there was dancing by our family members. My wife had brought her jewelry along, and she made enough to pay for the trip, lodging and food. She would laugh and say it was a good thing we took her along.
Then, in September 93, I was invited to be part of a First Nations group display at the 94 Vancouver Christmas Show to be held in Canada Place in early November. We split the costs for our display and each paid around 1000 dollars. This was a week-long show. There were 8 of us and 1300 exhibitors altogether.
A good friend was going to be my helper at the show, as Mom was ready to have our baby. We had trouble finding a room; we wound up in the hotel that has the revolving restaurant on its roof, not cheap, but we needed it. It was $75.00 a day just to keep our van in the basement parking. We all arrived the day before to have time to construct our display, which included a small longhouse. We worked until late in the evening to get it built. The first morning of the show was wild; there were tens of thousands of shoppers, and my prints and cards were doing well. This was good; it was costing me 1000 to be in the show and around 600 a day for food and lodging.
On the first day, Norm Groman came down to the weather with us, one of our dancers snuck up behind him in a grouse mask and scared him, they cut the feed, and then Norm tore a strip off of the dancer. I thought it was quite humorous myself.
By the second day, most exhibitors had gotten into a routine, and the show was drawing in a lot of people. Our dancers were performing 4 times a day, and with each dance, the crowds were increasing. People were enjoying the show. To tell you the truth, I was having a blast.
It was always too late to find dinner each night unless you went into the East End. The nightlife there was pretty wild. Every third car was a cop car with lights flashing and sirens blasting into the crowds. On the first night, we found a mom-and-pop-run Chinese restaurant that had great food. They were a nice old couple whom we chatted with every night. When I would get back to our room, I would call my wife to see how she was doing. It was tough being here with Gina being so close to giving birth.
On the 5th night of the show, they announced the winners in Best of Show and Best Display. Although there were 1300 to choose the winners from, we got Gold for best display and Silver for best of show. We all got our entrance fees back as a result.