Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Musqueam youth heading down under

Teens off to New Zealand in cultural exchange
Brittany Point
Brittany Point (right), at the Te Ara exhibit at the Musqueam Cultural Centre with her uncle Terry Point, will be part of a youth delegation heading to New Zealand. photo Dan Tougloet

Brittany Point wants to visit New Zealand this spring to connect with Maori culture.

The 20-year-old Musqueam woman met Maori elders, mostly women, when they visited her reserve in August to launch the Te Ara: Maori Pathways of Leadership exhibit of photographs at the Musqueam Cultural Centre and she was struck by the similarities between the two cultures.

“They’re so proud of it and so into it, they really practice the protocols and everything,” she said.

Brittany is one of six girls and young women aged 11 to 25 heading to New Zealand March 21 to April 2 as part of a Musqueam Youth Exchange.

Their trip will coincide with the return to New Zealand of the international touring exhibit that highlights the identity of Maori people and their landscapes. Te Ara is a Maori story of tribal leadership from the time their ancestors first ventured into the Pacific Ocean more than 3,000 years ago to today’s global challenges.

Brittany’s uncle, Terry Point, said he and Te Ara co-curator, Paul Tapsell, wanted to develop leadership among Musqueam youth.

“A lot of people here in Musqueam, they get grounded here in Musqueam and to actually venture out is difficult in some cases,” Terry said, “so this will give them an opportunity to expand their horizons and get out into the world.”

Brittany has travelled as far as New York and Boston.

The group will visit Rotorua and participate in the opening ceremony for the Te Ara exhibit. They’ll visit a Maori immersion school and spend a day with a cultural expert before meeting with another Maori community in Auckland, close to the grounds where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840 by the British government and the Maori people.

They’ll also participate in an anniversary event at the University of Auckland.

Terry hopes Maori youth will visit the Musqueam and that Canadian and New Zealand universities will collaborate on exchanges and scholarships down the road.

The exchange group has been meeting once or twice a week since before Christmas to learn traditional songs, Musqueam phrases and traditional stories so they can serve as knowledgeable ambassadors for their community.

A delegation of Musqueam adults will accompany the youth.

The Musqueam have raised $5,000 toward their goal of $15,000 to cover the youth’s travel costs, so three fundraisers are planned.

The Musqueam Cultural Centre will host a hunter’s feast of wild meats, traditional entertainment and a silent auction on Jan. 24. It also is holding an event called “Songs from the North, music for the people,” featuring singers Diyet and Nive Nielsen, Jan. 30, and on Feb. 8, Juno Award winner and blues artist Murray Porter will perform.  

For more information, go to musqueam.bc.ca and look under “Our Story” and then “Events.”

Te Ara is at the cultural centre until Feb. 28.

crossi@vancourier.com
twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi