The Canoe Journey - Governing Transboundary Waters: Canada, the United States, and Indigenous Communities - page 136

helps to answer “what makes a good upstream neighbor?” while the act of
participating in (and training for) the Journey exhibits how conceptualizing a
postcolonial/borderless waterscape may foster better water governance.
This chapter provides an opportunity to highlight the new partnerships that are
developing to work towards goals of protecting sacred waters. It also provides
counter-narratives of hydrohegemony and fosters Indigenous-led methods for
governance. Foundationally, it is about connecting to the waters, but also about
personal growth and cultural revitalization. As Kelly John, an elder of the Kyuquot
First Nation in British Columbia and a canoe leader, notes “We look at this journey
as a very personal quest” (Briggs and Alexander, 2006). This Journey is personal
(many kick habits, find cultural roots, find love) but it is also foundationally about
exercising inherent cultural rights and revitalizing cultures. As Chief Jerry Jack, of
Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation believed, a healthy tribal nation is one
inexorably tied to its ceremonies and, in this case, the ocean-going Canoe Journey
(Briggs and Alexander, 2006). This is particularly profound considering the
outlawing of the potlatch tradition of the Northwest coast tribes, which had
detrimental impacts on the social networks of the coastal traditions. The work of
cultural revitalization and self-determination that Chief Jerry Jack committed his
life to, through leadership, continues through these journeys. Jack sadly passed away
on the 2006 Canoe Journey after his boat capsized in the open waters (the first
death associated with the Journey).
History of the Canoe Journey
Canoe travel has been integral to the Coast Salish culture since time immemorial.
The Coast Salish people have traditionally lived close to water, providing year-
round access to plentiful marine resources and transportation routes. During the
summer months, the communities would take to the waters to trade, reconnect
with familial relations, and to set up fish camps.
However, many of these traditions and practices have been lost over the years.
As discussed in Chapter 2, colonial practices of forced assimilation, loss of traditional
territory, and movement onto reserves has had significant impacts on the spiritual,
economic, and overall health of Indigenous communities. In particular, the
outlawing of potlatch exchange (which only became “legal” again in the mid-
1950s), the epidemic of child abuse and language loss that occurred in the boarding
schools, and the associated multigenerational trauma associated with these events
has made life difficult for Indigenous communities throughout the last century
(Warry, 2008). These travesties have had, and continue to have, dire impacts on
the social, economic, and political fabric of the communities.
In addition to the socio-political change, Indigenous communities are faced
with degraded environmental conditions and extraterritorial pollution that impact
traditional harvesting practices and disrupt traditional ways of living. Degraded water
quality, overfishing, and temperature increases due to global climate change and
loss of riparian habitat also continue to have tremendous impacts on marine
resources. (Although overfishing is being curbed through regulatory mechanisms.)