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Snuneymuxw Elders: Today |
Elders are always of great significance to our people. They are our mentors in many different ways. Their main objective is to accomplish reviving our culture, language and traditions.
Language and Culture Our Elders educate our community by teaching and writing our language (Hul'quminum) along with speaking and writing our legends. They teach our young at Qwam Qwum Stalicut School. They have evening classes and they also have meetings to preserve the traditions and culture of the Longhouse. Below, Elders teach students traditional drumming and songs.
Workshops and Travel There are many different workshops our Elders attend or have attended. Many are related to teaching and reviving our traditions and culture. The workshops focus on Language, Tradition, Culture, Education, History, Petroglyphs and Health. These workshops were held in many different places such as Port Hardy, Alert Bay, Princeton, Victoria and Vancouver in British Columbia and Lummi in Washington.
Trips to museums in Victoria and Vancouver are part of the Elders travel itinerary. Elders also have many luncheons. They invite Elders from neighbouring communities. During these luncheon/workshops only the Hul'quminum language is spoken.
Participation in Events The Elders participate in many events, such as giving presentations to public schools, blessings and prayers of new and old sites and fundraising. We also had one Elder participate in the Power Paddle to Puyallup, Washington in the summer of 1998. Elder Richard Seward was one of the skippers for the five-day canoe trip to Olympia, Washington.
In the photo below, Elders bless a totem carved by SFN member Noel Brown. The totem was placed during a cultural teaching at Departure Bay School in Nanaimo.
Elders also blessed the site where breaking ground took place for the New Forest Opportunities office site on Snuneymuxw Reserve #1.
Below is a procession of Elders who blessed the grounds and competitors in the 1997 British Columbia Summer Games held in Victoria on Vancouver Island.
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