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We are Born with the Songs Inside Us
We are Born with the Songs Inside Us: Lives and Stories of First Nations People in British Columbia by Katherine Palmer Gordon (Harbour Publishing $24.95)
"First Nations are the fastest growing population in the country. There are thousands upon thousands of young
First Nations people growing up today who, together with the kind of individuals whose stories are told in this book, represent a future for this country that is brighter than it has been for a long, long time.";
-Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, from the Foreword
In 2004, when Katherine Palmer Gordon was in terviewing Shawn Atleo for a BC Business magazine article, their discussion turned to the relentlessly negative portrayal of aboriginal Canadians in the mainstream press. Where were all the amazing people they both knew existed?
Gordon's sixteen profiles in We are Born with the Songs Inside Us have risen from that conversation. Stunning black and white portraits underscore one of several resonant themes: People are finally seeing us now.
Gordon introduces articulate, self-assured young First Nations people from B.C. who talk about their personal journeys as artists and business innovators, doctors and treaty negotiators, educators and athletes, community organizers and stand-up comedians, lawyers and marine biologists, gay and straight, proud parents, devoted sons and daughters. The commentaries of visionary mentors like Sophie Pierre of the East Kootenay Ktunaxa First Nation and Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Band alone are worth the price of the book.
The pressures of community expectations have developed many strong shoulders and level heads. Atleo, Vancouver Canucks fan favourite Gino Odjick and medical doctor/actor/playwright Evan Tlesla Adams are widely-known in society while others are well-known in their own community and professional circles.
While not diminishing the harsh reality that many First Nations face daily, this book profiles just some of the many determined and skilled people on the frontlines of change. Readers with little exposure to B.C.'s indigenous peoples are in for a wake-up call. They will read about social workers like William Yoachim of the Snuneymuxw Nation near Nanaimo, who is facing the legacy of depression, addiction and abuse left by the residential school experience on previous generations.
Along the way they will begin to comprehend the great loss to an entire community when Ucluelet band councillor and surfer Evan Touchie died of a heart attack at the age of thirty-three.
Others will learn the pros and cons of living in isolated rural or hemmed-in urban reserves, or living and working off-reserve entirely.
Here we meet remarkable educators, such as Governor-General's award winning history teacher and program co-ordinator Anne Tenning in Penticton. Readers will also be introduced to Renée Sampson and Kendra Underwood from the Tsartlip First Nation near Brentwood Bay, dedicated to the preservation and passing on of SENCOTEN, one of thirty-two remaining indigenous languages in B.C..
While the book is structured around the individual profiles and elder/mentor commentaries, there are useful sections written by Gordon that provide additional historical and political ballast.
The historic Tsawwassen Treaty, negotiated by profile subject, Kim Baird and her dedicated team, is summarized and Gordon profiles Gino Odjick, who now runs several successful businesses and lives with his family on the Musqueam First Nation reserve.
After quitting the NHL in 2002, Odjick, a keen golfer, took on a management role at the Musqueam Golf and Learning Academy at Musqueam's Eaglequest Golf Club. "In 2010, Musqueam was voted the most female-friendly course in Canada,"; he told journalist Jef Choy. "We have a woman general manager and assistant general manager, and our head pro is also a woman. It's the secret to our success. The women are the ones who have brought the life into this business. I've learned to just stay out of the way and let them do their thing!";
He told Gordon, "I know what a huge difference it makes to a community to have good businesses up and running and employment for their people, especially the young people. It just changes the whole life of that community for the better. It gives them hope...
"There's this sign in a band office I saw once, and now it's my mantra: First Nations People Have Always Worked for a Living. The world needs to realize that. The world needs to understand that we will look after Mother Earth properly and keep it safe, but that if we see business opportunities as being consistent with that and good for us we know what to do. We'll do it in the best way, the most environmentally sound way, but we'll use the opportunity to our best.";
Odjick is a lifelong reader and spends many hours annually talking to students. His friend, fellow pro hockey player, champion amateur boxer and businessperson, Peter Leech, is a post-secondary business education teacher.
But if there is one indisputable link amongst each of the individuals in this book, it begins with the song that was born and nurtured inside each one, their early exposure to their own languages and ways of being and thinking which are culturally specific to their people, the land they are standing on and the water beside them. Invariably indigenous mentors recognized their talents, shared old ways and new strategies and encouraged them to brighter futures.
Mike Willy of Port Hardy, the Cultural Preservation and Revitalization Co-ordinator for the Gwa'sala-Nakwaxda'xw K-7 School, still vividly recalls his childhood in isolated Kingcome Inlet where he sang, spoke and drummed with elders and how the "song inside us";-the vital connections to language and culture-kept him grounded when he was sent off to attend a Victoria school from Grade 7 and beyond. In high school, he'd skip classes to go to the provincial archives in order to transcribe tapes of his own language.
In a landmark 2007 study cited by Gordon, it was discovered that "suicide rates dropped to zero in communities in which at least half the members reported a conversational knowledge of their language ... In contrast, where there was little or no connection to language, the suicide rate rose to six times higher than the national average.";
Everyone in We are Born with the Songs Inside Us has mastered the subtleties of communicating between generations, with parents from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and with non-indigenous corporate and indigenous business clients.
Tewanee Joseph is a "lacrosse fanatic,"; musician, key 2010 Olympics organizer and businessperson with a Squamish/Maori heritage. Beverley O'Neil is a marathon runner, stand-up comic and president of her own communications company, of Ktunaxa and Irish descent. Trudy Warner grew up in Grappler Creek, a community of four houses, and took a daily speedboat to attend school in Bamfield. She discovered her skill in communications when she began an entry level job in the Port Alberni treaty office, earning the respect of many during the long process.
Lisa Webster-Gibson, of Mohawk-Delaware-Scottish heritage, works as an environmental assessment technician. She also exhibits as a mixed-media artist and is a spoken word performer. Merle Alexander, with familial ties to the north coast village of Klemtu and a law practice in North Vancouver, is an accomplished, urban professional. Troy Sebastian, of the Ktunaxa First Nation, already a seasoned political candidate, is finishing his law degree at UVic.
For Penny White, marine biologist and photographer, a life-changing co-op program at Vancouver Island University reconnected her to Klemtu, the village of her grandparents. She is applying indigenous practices of ecosystem management, working with coastal First Nations, to harvest red seaweed commercially.
Lyana Patrick came to Vancouver from Fraser Lake to excel in sciences on her way to med school. Honoured with Fullbright and Vanier scholarships, she is now a filmmaker earning a Ph.D. in planning and mental health.
Internationally-exhibited Chemainus/Ladysmith carver
John Qap'u'luq Marston and Sliammon/Powell River's Evan Tlesla Adams have always applied physical and mental discipline to their great talent. "You can just be okay at what you do,"; says Adams, "or you can be the kind of person who says, 'Until the end of my days I will fight for the absolute best in myself and truly make a difference.'";
Given the momentum of the Idle No More movement, this is a timely anthology. Yes, there are grim problems; too many children living in poverty, children born with foetal alcohol syndrome who will not achieve the professional heights of the subjects of this
book.
But this book belongs in every public library and high school library, where the indigenous student drop-out rate is nearly 60%. And it belongs in college and university libraries to reaffirm the dreams and sense of purpose of students and their teachers, indigenous and otherwise. 978-1550176186
Caroline Woodward writes and works as a lighthouse keeper near Tofino where she is a big fan of Long Beach Radio's Nuu-chah-nulth 'Word of the Day' and APTN TV. www.carolinewoodward.ca
"First Nations are the fastest growing population in the country. There are thousands upon thousands of young
First Nations people growing up today who, together with the kind of individuals whose stories are told in this book, represent a future for this country that is brighter than it has been for a long, long time.";
-Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, from the Foreword
In 2004, when Katherine Palmer Gordon was in terviewing Shawn Atleo for a BC Business magazine article, their discussion turned to the relentlessly negative portrayal of aboriginal Canadians in the mainstream press. Where were all the amazing people they both knew existed?
Gordon's sixteen profiles in We are Born with the Songs Inside Us have risen from that conversation. Stunning black and white portraits underscore one of several resonant themes: People are finally seeing us now.
Gordon introduces articulate, self-assured young First Nations people from B.C. who talk about their personal journeys as artists and business innovators, doctors and treaty negotiators, educators and athletes, community organizers and stand-up comedians, lawyers and marine biologists, gay and straight, proud parents, devoted sons and daughters. The commentaries of visionary mentors like Sophie Pierre of the East Kootenay Ktunaxa First Nation and Clarence Louie of the Osoyoos Band alone are worth the price of the book.
The pressures of community expectations have developed many strong shoulders and level heads. Atleo, Vancouver Canucks fan favourite Gino Odjick and medical doctor/actor/playwright Evan Tlesla Adams are widely-known in society while others are well-known in their own community and professional circles.
While not diminishing the harsh reality that many First Nations face daily, this book profiles just some of the many determined and skilled people on the frontlines of change. Readers with little exposure to B.C.'s indigenous peoples are in for a wake-up call. They will read about social workers like William Yoachim of the Snuneymuxw Nation near Nanaimo, who is facing the legacy of depression, addiction and abuse left by the residential school experience on previous generations.
Along the way they will begin to comprehend the great loss to an entire community when Ucluelet band councillor and surfer Evan Touchie died of a heart attack at the age of thirty-three.
Others will learn the pros and cons of living in isolated rural or hemmed-in urban reserves, or living and working off-reserve entirely.
Here we meet remarkable educators, such as Governor-General's award winning history teacher and program co-ordinator Anne Tenning in Penticton. Readers will also be introduced to Renée Sampson and Kendra Underwood from the Tsartlip First Nation near Brentwood Bay, dedicated to the preservation and passing on of SENCOTEN, one of thirty-two remaining indigenous languages in B.C..
While the book is structured around the individual profiles and elder/mentor commentaries, there are useful sections written by Gordon that provide additional historical and political ballast.
The historic Tsawwassen Treaty, negotiated by profile subject, Kim Baird and her dedicated team, is summarized and Gordon profiles Gino Odjick, who now runs several successful businesses and lives with his family on the Musqueam First Nation reserve.
After quitting the NHL in 2002, Odjick, a keen golfer, took on a management role at the Musqueam Golf and Learning Academy at Musqueam's Eaglequest Golf Club. "In 2010, Musqueam was voted the most female-friendly course in Canada,"; he told journalist Jef Choy. "We have a woman general manager and assistant general manager, and our head pro is also a woman. It's the secret to our success. The women are the ones who have brought the life into this business. I've learned to just stay out of the way and let them do their thing!";
He told Gordon, "I know what a huge difference it makes to a community to have good businesses up and running and employment for their people, especially the young people. It just changes the whole life of that community for the better. It gives them hope...
"There's this sign in a band office I saw once, and now it's my mantra: First Nations People Have Always Worked for a Living. The world needs to realize that. The world needs to understand that we will look after Mother Earth properly and keep it safe, but that if we see business opportunities as being consistent with that and good for us we know what to do. We'll do it in the best way, the most environmentally sound way, but we'll use the opportunity to our best.";
Odjick is a lifelong reader and spends many hours annually talking to students. His friend, fellow pro hockey player, champion amateur boxer and businessperson, Peter Leech, is a post-secondary business education teacher.
But if there is one indisputable link amongst each of the individuals in this book, it begins with the song that was born and nurtured inside each one, their early exposure to their own languages and ways of being and thinking which are culturally specific to their people, the land they are standing on and the water beside them. Invariably indigenous mentors recognized their talents, shared old ways and new strategies and encouraged them to brighter futures.
Mike Willy of Port Hardy, the Cultural Preservation and Revitalization Co-ordinator for the Gwa'sala-Nakwaxda'xw K-7 School, still vividly recalls his childhood in isolated Kingcome Inlet where he sang, spoke and drummed with elders and how the "song inside us";-the vital connections to language and culture-kept him grounded when he was sent off to attend a Victoria school from Grade 7 and beyond. In high school, he'd skip classes to go to the provincial archives in order to transcribe tapes of his own language.
In a landmark 2007 study cited by Gordon, it was discovered that "suicide rates dropped to zero in communities in which at least half the members reported a conversational knowledge of their language ... In contrast, where there was little or no connection to language, the suicide rate rose to six times higher than the national average.";
Everyone in We are Born with the Songs Inside Us has mastered the subtleties of communicating between generations, with parents from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds and with non-indigenous corporate and indigenous business clients.
Tewanee Joseph is a "lacrosse fanatic,"; musician, key 2010 Olympics organizer and businessperson with a Squamish/Maori heritage. Beverley O'Neil is a marathon runner, stand-up comic and president of her own communications company, of Ktunaxa and Irish descent. Trudy Warner grew up in Grappler Creek, a community of four houses, and took a daily speedboat to attend school in Bamfield. She discovered her skill in communications when she began an entry level job in the Port Alberni treaty office, earning the respect of many during the long process.
Lisa Webster-Gibson, of Mohawk-Delaware-Scottish heritage, works as an environmental assessment technician. She also exhibits as a mixed-media artist and is a spoken word performer. Merle Alexander, with familial ties to the north coast village of Klemtu and a law practice in North Vancouver, is an accomplished, urban professional. Troy Sebastian, of the Ktunaxa First Nation, already a seasoned political candidate, is finishing his law degree at UVic.
For Penny White, marine biologist and photographer, a life-changing co-op program at Vancouver Island University reconnected her to Klemtu, the village of her grandparents. She is applying indigenous practices of ecosystem management, working with coastal First Nations, to harvest red seaweed commercially.
Lyana Patrick came to Vancouver from Fraser Lake to excel in sciences on her way to med school. Honoured with Fullbright and Vanier scholarships, she is now a filmmaker earning a Ph.D. in planning and mental health.
Internationally-exhibited Chemainus/Ladysmith carver
John Qap'u'luq Marston and Sliammon/Powell River's Evan Tlesla Adams have always applied physical and mental discipline to their great talent. "You can just be okay at what you do,"; says Adams, "or you can be the kind of person who says, 'Until the end of my days I will fight for the absolute best in myself and truly make a difference.'";
Given the momentum of the Idle No More movement, this is a timely anthology. Yes, there are grim problems; too many children living in poverty, children born with foetal alcohol syndrome who will not achieve the professional heights of the subjects of this
book.
But this book belongs in every public library and high school library, where the indigenous student drop-out rate is nearly 60%. And it belongs in college and university libraries to reaffirm the dreams and sense of purpose of students and their teachers, indigenous and otherwise. 978-1550176186
Caroline Woodward writes and works as a lighthouse keeper near Tofino where she is a big fan of Long Beach Radio's Nuu-chah-nulth 'Word of the Day' and APTN TV. www.carolinewoodward.ca
Submitted on September 11, 2013 in By David.
