The U'Mista Centre (spelled in the Canadian way!) was constructed to house ceremonial regalia confiscated from the Kwakwaka'wakw tribe by the Canadian government in 1921. Forty-five people were imprisoned at the time for continuing to celebrate important family milestones in traditional Potlatch ways, events which had been banned since 1884. Finally these works of art and personal treasures have found their way back home again. U'Mista means to return. Three of us returned this week to the country of our birth. With us came new friends from both northern and southern hemispheres, east and west, the old world and the new. All were reminded that the native peoples were here first. But they too had come from somewhere else long, long ago. Maybe Halibut had walked from the ocean to become the first human and maybe Thunderbird had descended from the sky to become his brother as some of the legends say. It may be true that their descendents walked across the Bering Strait on a land bridge when the sea level was much lower than today while our ancestors came in quite a different way. But we were all here this morning to share and learn as one.
As we walked on Canadian soil it was apparent that each human being shared the same experiences and yet each interpreted them quite differently dependent on the cumulative experiences in their past. We listened to the crows call as they gathered on the pier. Some thought of murders or marauders in orchards while some looked for proof of identification or signs of intelligence in birds. We watched the children dance. Some felt the rhythm of the beating drum. Some contemplated the costume art and others understood the meaning of maternal pride. How did we view the sunshine and killer whales of the afternoon? Here too reactions were different. Scientific minds were busy interpreting the behaviors shown, hypothesizing that salmon were being consumed although no concrete evidence of prey was there. Taxonomists were determined to match saddle patches and dorsal fins with those of known whales. An artist was watching the glistening light and patterns of ripples on deep dark seas. A photographer hoped for the perfect shot. Some discussed chemical pollutants and their long-term effects on animals living at the pinnacle of the food chain. Others were curious about the family life of whales.
Separate and yet together, we learn from one another and share in the future of this world.
