A Family That Paddles Together

April-May 2002

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by Jacqueline Windh

Gisele Martin and her father Joe, wear traditional regalia, share a laugh at the canoe gathering in Vancouver last summer.

The Martin family have been paddling for thousands of years. They're members of the Tla-o-qui-aht (Clayoquot) First Nation, from the village of Opitsaht, in Clayoquot Sound. Tla-oqui- aht are one of sixteen tribes that make up the Nuuchah- nulth group, the coastal people of the Pacific northwest who include the Makah of Neah Bay, Washington and most of the tribal groups that occupy the outer coast of Vancouver Island.

Early theories about the migration of the first peoples to North America surmised that they arrived in central Canada about 11,000 years ago on foot, via a land bridge that was open at the end of the last ice age, eventually moving west over the Rockies and settling on the coast. More recent archaeological evidence indicates native people were already living on the west coast by the end of the last ice age, and were totally adapted to life here-travelling in small watercraft, and surviving on an entirely marine diet of fish, clams and marine mammals. The evidence suggests that these people migrated from the area around Siberia in small boats, between 15,000 and 10,000 years ago.

For the Tla-o-qui-aht, carving canoes and paddling them have always been a family affair but the knowledge has largely been lost by west coast native communities. Men traditionally learned skills such as canoe-carving and hunting from their fathers and grandfathers, but disruption of family structures by the government forcing native children to attend residential schools broke the links in the chain of hereditary knowledge.

Gisele and Doug help to shape the hull of a 22' canoe.

Joe Martin and his brothers Carl and Billy were fortunate to spend enough time with their grandfathers that this traditional knowledge has remained alive, and they are now some of the master canoe carvers of the west coast. In total, Joe, Carl and Billy Martin, along with their father, have carved over thirty canoes. They are now teaching canoe-carving skills to neighbouring tribes up and down the coast, and selling their canoes.

Gisele Martin, Joe's daughter, has been paddling with her family for as long as she can remember. She was probably not more than five when she first paddled with her father in a "big canoe" for three days, from Tofino to Hot Springs Cove. From this early trip flowed a succession of other family paddling trips, including a canoe voyage down the outer coast of Vancouver Island from Tofino to Victoria, with her father and several uncles and cousins, for the Indigenous Games in 1997.

Last summer, the annual First Nations Canoe Quest was hosted by the Squamish Nation, and the gathering took place in Vancouver. Participants paddled dozens of canoes from northern BC, Vancouver Island and Washington to meet at the mouth of the Capilano River. Gisele, Joe, Carl, and several other family friends paddled in Joe's elegant 34' canoe Sa-sit-qwe-is across Georgia Strait in Vancouver. The journey took two days, and they battled stormy weather, cold rain and headwinds before finally arriving in Vancouver Harbour under sail on the second morning.

Paddling is a time for contemplation and communion with nature.

After the journey, Joe presented the canoe Sa-sit-qwe-is to his daughters Gisele and Marie-France.

The Martin family's long-standing tradition of paddling together continues today. Gisele and her boyfriend Doug are now starting up a business called Tlaook Cultural Adventures, offering tours in the dugouts. They will use the canoes that Joe has carved, and many of the guides will be family members: Gisele, Joe, Doug, her sister Marie-France, her uncle Carl, and some of her cousins. The family has extensive experience leading interpretive tours through their traditional territories. Gisele has worked as a cultural interpretive guide in the rainforest, Doug has worked as a seakayaking guide, and Joe and Carl have led whale-watching tours in Clayoquot Sound for years.

Gisele explains, "This is something I have wanted to do with our canoes, to share with people our culture and the environment it flourished in. Our land and water deserve to be introduced and known with more depth, through First Nations eyes."

Gisele and Doug plan to offer day-trips for now, and hope to be running longer, overnight tours in the future. This year's tours include a trip to an ancient whaling village site where guests will be treated to a traditional salmon barbeque, and a "Wild Grocery Walk" on Meares Island.

Gisele can be reached on 250-725-2656 or at tlaook@hotmail.com.

© Text and photos by Jacqueline Windh, a freelance photographer living in Clayoquot Sound (jwindh@hotmail.com). Her work has been featured in past issues of WaveLength..