From his front row seat in the council chambers, Robert Joseph watched and listened to a historic ceremonial event at city hall Tuesday that left him proud and hopeful for future relations between First Nations and governments.
As hereditary chief of the Gwawaeanuk First Nation near Alert Bay and the ambassador for Reconciliation Canada, Joseph has dedicated his adult life to bridging differences borne from intolerance, ignorance and racism.
“When I first came to Vancouver in the 1960s as a young man, anything involving aboriginal spirituality or culture was considered taboo,” Joseph told the Courier after a traditional “brushing-off” ceremony for the newly elected council. “Here we are these decades later and our leadership in this great municipal hall of Vancouver are open to the idea that all of our spiritual ways and beliefs have value and purpose.”
Over the singing and drumming of aboriginal singers, women from the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations used cedar boughs dipped in water to “brush off” Mayor Gregor Robertson and nine councillors (Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs was absent) to symbolize the beginning of a fresh start.
The event marked the first time in the city’s history that three nations had come under the roof of Vancouver’s city hall to conduct such a ceremony. It was prompted by the nations, not by council, said Robertson after the event that he called unprecedented and historic.
“It’s never happened before,” Robertson said. “But we’ve worked hard to strengthen relations with Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh and the reconciliation year was a big boost for those efforts.”
Two years ago, city council proclaimed June 21, 2013 to June 21, 2014 as the year of reconciliation in Vancouver and agreed to support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Earlier this year, council also passed a motion to have city hall formally acknowledge the city is on unceded traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.
The timing of Tuesday’s ceremony and council’s commitment to build new relationships with aboriginal peoples comes as the three nations are set to embark on major development plans for the 52-acre Jericho Lands in West Point Grey.
The three nations partnered with a federal Crown corporation to acquire the prized property along with the site of the former RCMP E-Division property on Heather Street and the former Department of Fisheries and Oceans land in West Vancouver.
Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow spoke at the ceremony and said he and the other nations want to work with city hall to determine what type of project would best fit on the Jericho Lands, which were owned by the Department of National Defence.
“We’re hoping to show other municipalities that by working together, it’s for the betterment of everybody involved instead of having us working against each other,” said Sparrow, who complimented city council for its commitment to reconciliation. “Anything that we do, we’ll work diligently with the staff to make sure it fits into their plans. It’s a respect thing.”
Squamish Chief Ian Campbell, who participated in the drumming and singing during the ceremony, said it had been “generations of effort” to build and strengthen the relationship with the city. By extension, he said, the relationship also helped the three nations become closer, cementing protocol agreements between the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam.
“We’ve moved from a place of competition to a place of collaboration and to showcase the richness of our culture,” Campbell said. “The commitment to work together and hold these types of ceremonies is a tremendous gesture but it’s also just putting it in action to demonstrate we are all in the same canoe — that we all must put our paddles in the water to move forward for a better future. So I feel very happy to be part of this today.”
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