The Big House

The North Vancouver School District has an Outdoor School in Paradise Valley, near Squamish, which is half way between Vancouver and Whistler. First Nation studies, and in particular, the Coastal Salish is part of the grade 4 curriculum in BC. They run a variety of programs for different classes, including The Big House program for grade 4.


On Monday morning students from my class began arriving at school in time for us to leave by bus at 8:00 am. We had a bit of drama, where one of the students arrived with eye drops and a report that she had been to the doctor the previous day with "pink eye". This is very contagious and there was some checking done as to whether she would be able to come with us. She had seen a doctor the previous day, had been using drops for about 24 hours, and her eyes didn't look too bad so she was given the OK to travel.

We left on time and travelled via the "Sea to Sky Highway" until we reached the turnoff to Paradise Valley just after Squamish. It was a beautiful sunny day and the views across Howe Sound were gorgeous. We met Kate, the Big House teacher, at about 9:15 am, and the bus drove us down the road to where we hopped off for the walk through the forest to the Big House. We walked for about an hour while Kate talked about the Squamish people and the forest we were in. She pointed out Devil's Club, and spoke about Stinging Nettles, two of the plants in the forest that can cause problems. We arrived at the Cheakamus River and listened to the Legend of Wountie before walking along the river dyke to the Big House.

We were greeted by the Siamshun, as head of the local tribe who welcomed us into the Big House. His sister, Swinomia, greeted the five families and gave everyone a Big House name. The names related to the animals and the environment, and also to the particular job that the family they had been allocated to performed. The five families were; Hunters and Fishers, Food Gatherers, Cedar Bark Workers, Wool Weavers, and Wood Workers.

Daniel was named "Wountie", the spirit protecting the Cheakamus River,
Bridget was named "Woman Warrior",
Paula was named "Whistling Swan", and
I was named "Thunderbird".

After the naming ceremony we had lunch of bannock and soup. The bannock is cooked by shaping a biscuit dough on the end of a stick, like a hot dog roll, and heating over hot coals. When it is cooked, it is taken off the stick and honey is poured into the hole where the stick was. It was delicious. The soup was cooked with hot rocks from the fire in bentwood boxes.

After lunch we broke off into our family groups for traditional activities.

The wood workers cut down a small tree and started to make wooden tools with adzes. They made wooden chisels for splitting cedar logs and also shaped cedar planks into canoe paddles. Their other task was to keep the house supplied with wood for the fires and kindling for starting the fires. The cedar bark workers pounded cedar bark until it was soft and pliable. They wove the strips into a small mat and tied it off with twine made from twisted cedar bark strands. The wool weavers cleaned mountain goat wool, brushed, carded, twisted and beagn to weave with the wool. They would have collected wool in the summer and used it to weave blankets. The food gatherers went into the forest and learnt how to identify edible foods, berries, and roots, and the hunters and fishers learnt how to identify signs of animal life in the forest. They also learnt how to set traps and built a rock weir on the river.

After these family activities we had some game time when we played Shinty, with Shinty sticks and a ball. It is similar to hockey, but the sticks are narrower. We also learnt how to play Dox-An-Eye.

Dinner was a salmon feast where all families had different parts to prepare. Two families cooked potatoes, two were responsible for carrots, and the hunters and fishers cooked the salmon. This was followed by desert of berries and ice cream. After dessert we listened to First Nation legends and danced to native songs. As it began to get dark we prepared to go on a night hike. While on the walk we heard a variety of bird talk and tried to find the resident bats. We walked on to the landing on the canoe pond and lay down to listen to another legend while looking into the night sky for bats. We still didn't see any so we walked around the lake and found them at the other end. It was dark by the time we got back.

All the "young workers" were made to visit the "Thunderbox" (The outhouse) before bed. We all slept in family groups on platforms in the Big House, and the lights went down at about 11:00 pm. Everyone must have been tired because the talking stopped pretty quickly. After being told of previous visits, I was prepared for being woken during the night because they were told that they had to have an elder accompany them to the Thunderbox during the night. I woke during the night to the sound of rain at about 1:30 am, and the next time I woke it was about 6:45 am.The house was still dark and quiet. I turned the lights on at about 7:00 am and began to light the fire so that we could get breakfast going. Heads started to poke out of their sleeping bags, and I wandered around asking the elders if they had needed to take anyone for a night walk. Not one! Most people had slept well.

We had breakfast of oatmeal, raisins and apple, and hot chocolate. Because the other class from Eastview were coming in this morning, Kate would meet them and I would take the group for the walk in the cedar forest. We saw evidence of culturally modified trees, where test strips of bark had been taken. We saw a tree that had rotted in the middle from the ground up, 600 year old crownless cedar, 1000 year old cedar which was the biggest tree in the forest and the second oldest. They all crawled through The Trummel, a fallen tree that had a rotted centre, and saw fraternal twins - a Sitka Spruce and a Cedar that were growing together, and also a clearing in which a scene from the film Eragon was filmed. It was quite magical walking through the wet forest with raindrops glistening on bright green leaves, dripping moss on trunks and branches, and the big black slugs all over the place, even though we got soaked. The bushes all through the forest, and on the edge of it had berries on them. They were green and growing, but it won't be long before they are red and black and ready for eating.

This forest is the hardware, pharmacy, and grocery store for the First Nations that lived here.

"Ensxi7pm"

(O- see- um)

Thank you in the Coastal Salish language

We had time to have another family group working session with the elders before having lunch, which was followed by a goodbye ceremony, at which I was presented with a cedar bark mat made by the students, and the journey back along the shores of Howe Sound back to Vancouver. Along the way we had great views of the Sound and the islands, as well as Stawamus Chief and Shannon Falls.

We arrived back at school on time, smelling very smoky, and in need of a good shower, but feeling all the better for the time spent in the outdoor classroom.

Dinner in Deep Cove

Got a phone call last night from a couple, Dennis and Vivian, who were in Australia last year. They knew about us through Cheryl and John. Cheryl is the ESL teacher at my school and I catch a lift to and from school at least 3 times a week with her. She only lives one street away from home.

Denis and Vivian live in Deep Cove and were on exchange to Mooloolabah, Queensland. They have 3 kids, one of whom is in Australia at the moment, and the others, Dylan and Lydia, are in years 10 and 12. The kids seemed to get on well with each other and during the evening took a walk in to Deep Cove. We went to have dinner with them and met some of their friends. They have a great view across the Indian Arm towards Belcarra.

Aussie visitors

We have a long weekend here. Lucky!! We need today to recover from the last few days. We have had a couple from Geelong over here. I taught with Rhonda for about 10 years at Mandama. She and Adam, her husband, came over with another couple. They flew into LA, went to Las Vegas, Death Valley and the Grand Canyon before flying up to Seattle. They drove up to Vancouver and Rhonda and Adam stayed for the last 3 nights. The other couple stayed in Bellingham catching up with a friend. We drove them back down to Bellingham yesterday, and they were flying from Seattle to New York for a week before splitting up with Robert and Debra going to Florida and Rhonda and Adam heading back to LA for a few days before flying home. They will be back in Geelong on 28th May.

We went in to Downtown Vancouver on Thursday evening to drop Bridget off at a theatre she was going to. She has become interested in “Free the Children” through becoming an “O Ambassador” at school. We then drove to Kitsalano, near the Maritime Museum and got a good view of North and West Vancouver before heading in to Costco and getting Bridget and diving around Stanley Park before heading home.

On Friday I took the day off and we went on the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. It was nice weather and we stopped at Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls. We had lunch at Whistler before returning for a salmon meal at home.

On Saturday we took them to Cleveland Dam at the end of our street, then to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. We spent a couple of hour there taking in the scenery and atmosphere of the Cliffhanger Walk and the Treetops Walk. We called in at home for lunch and then went up Grouse Mountain. It was the first day of the Summer activities for the season. We watched the Lumberjack show, caught the chair to the peak for amazing views of Vancouver, then checked out the two local resident grizzly bears. They were rescued as cubs and instead of putting them down, as is the practice, they began a pilot program to see whether they might be able to use electric fences to confine bears for rehabilitation to the wild. They have a large enclosure on the top of the mountain. These 2 will never go back to the wild because they have had too much human contact, but they look like they will be able to use this technology with other bear cubs in the future. We went down to the chalet and watched the 2 video presentations – one about the bears and the other about Grouse itself and an eagle’s eye view of BC. We came back home to a dinner that Daniel had cooked while we were up on the mountain. Bridget and Daniel stayed home during the day to get some homework done and catch up on their own things, but after dinner we all went to Gastown. We walked around the tourist area, saving our money because all the shops were shut, and then walked around Canada Place, where the cruise ships berth, and the new Convention Centre.

Yesterday we took them down to Bellingham and had lunch at Anthony’s, a seafood restaurant at the marina. Robert and Debra had been visiting Irene who they had known when she and her husband had lived in Australia. He had been in Geelong in the 60’s and 70’s with Alcoa where they had met Robert’s family, and she had been a teacher. Debra had been one of her students. We went back to her “mobile home” which is at a “retirement park” that used to be an old caravan park. It was a really nice setting around small lake in a forest setting.

After we left them we went to Whatcom Falls in Bellingham. This was a beautiful forested park with a stream running through it. It also had a trout hatchery there. We then headed to Burlington, caught up with Roger and Patty, got the address of Bridget’s grade 2 teacher, spent an hour or so chatting there, and then headed back, crossing the border late last night.

Slept in this morning. It is Victoria Day – a public holiday in Canada.

Mother's Day

We had front row balcony seats for a preview performance of Les Miserables. It must be over 20 years since we went to a performance in Melbourne.

Chinatown tour

We met Terry from the BC Exchange Teacher's League, and other Australian teachers at Hons Wun Tun House in Chinatown for lunch. It is renowned for it's potstickers. They are similar to the Australian dim sims. It was pretty busy. The sort of place where you arrive and queue at the door to wait for a table. It was good food.

We then walked down to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden to go on a walking tour of Chinatown. The gardens were very peaceful and colourful. We headed off in a group to find out more about the 2nd largest Chinatown in North America. We also learned some of the not so very nice history of the way the Chinese were treated in Vancouver and Canada.

Our guide described what the area looked like in previous times, and told us about the various buildings on our walk. We saw the narrowest free-standing building in the world and leared some of the history of the owner and his battles with authority. Our guide was particularly interested in the huge variety of foods - dried and fresh. We were introduced to dried foods of every kind, fresh seafoods, vegetables and fruits. There were even dried lizards on bamboo sticks to be ground up with all sorts of other herbs and spices as a type medicine, or tonic.