We had three days of meetings, two in community and one at the museum. I love these kinds of trips. And to make it even better, the third day was my birthday. Even better, it was also the birthday of one of my friends and co-researchers on the project, one of the hosts from MOA. Interestingly, I share my birthday with four friends, two from high school (although I've lost touch with one of them), one from my work world (this project), and another from a different professional track. Love it! I do think that makes it all so much more fun.
Day one was at Musqueam First Nation. Both communities we visited are Coast Salish, and this was really my first visit to their reserves. I was so excited to learn!
Yes, salmon and killer whale are important. Yes, carving is central. I adore North Pacific Coast art.
One of the things I loved best about Musqueam was the use of Musqueam language on tribal lands. These street signs were so wonderful to see.
Day two was at the Museum of Anthropology. This is one of the famous Bill Reid sculptures, of the story of Raven with the First Men being born from the clam shell.
Conservation work in process included some repairs and cleaning to this stunning chilkat blanket.
This is part of a basket unearthed from a river (hence the water). I believe it's 2000 years old!
Most of the masks in the collection are secured at the request of the communities. Otherwise, they'd talk and chatter the night away.
This one is on display. It's actually a dance mask, and is HUGE. I can't even imagine how much it weighs and how hard it must be to wear and balance. It's got be twenty pounds, I'm sure.
So my birthday started with a trip to the rookery, in the good company of the museum director for the French-speaking community from Québec. One returning great blue had a branch so big that he couldn't down-flap his wings fully. Because Sue and I both knew that if we called out the other, we'd be called out ourselves, and because neither of us wanted people to fuss -- especially the community! -- we kept silent until the end of the day and enjoyed our little secret ourselves.
Stö:ló First Nation was a wonderful community too, also doing a lot with language and cultural revival. I get so inspired every time I am fortunate enough to spend time in community. I was one of the few to successfully make the cedar bracelet (I'm sure it was birthday karma, but I can't wait to teach the interpreters at the museum) and could not have had a more wonderful birthday lunch if I'd had the chance to plan it myself -- fresh salmon bake, including roe, bannock, and fruit. Yum!
With my colleagues from the Field Museum. Fabulous ladies, and I love spending time with them! We had to have an Americans-in-Vancouver photo.
Then we embarked on a place names tour of the reserve area with a cultural expert. A bit long, but fascinating. And really, can you beat the scenery?
Then it was back to town where people realized they had two birthday girls in the group. Nine of us went to dinner that night, where some of the French-Canadians kindly (and secretively) managed to usurp my wine bill. Then six of us went for cake, where my dessert bill disappeared. These are not people I see often, and some I don't know well at all, so this was incredibly kind and moving. While my phone wasn't on because of roaming, there was good wifi at the hotel, so I found tons of messages in text, personal email, Facebook, and work email. I may have been several thousand miles from home, but I couldn't have felt more loved if I'd been there.
And Vancouver played a huge part in that. Things have changed, but I'm still in love with the city.
Flying over the Cascades. So beautiful.
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