We drove up to Whistler through the fog, looking out the window all the way up hoping to see the bears the road signed warned us about. The Autumnal colours seemed to be highlighted by the mist while the rivers below tumbled rapidly within their rocky beds.
We arrived in Whistler around 1030, found a free parking spot close to the Skwxwú7mesh Liĺwat7ùl Cultural Centre, finding ourselves the only visitors when we arrived. We were warmly welcomed and while we waited for the formal welcome chant & tour to begin at 11am we spent some time reading the information panels about the carvings & weavings displayed. The centre is a joint project between the Squamish and Lil'wat Nations as Whistler is on shared territory.
The were about 6 young people sitting at a table near the admissions working on weavings & other crafts - each of them took a turn at drumming and singing the welcome & showing guests how to weave a simple rope from cedar bark. The young man who performed for us was from Lilwat7ul Nation, a delightful open-natured person keen to learn more of his culture from elders and to share his knowledge with others. The centre has a focus on supporting the education and development of their people so all profits go back into the centre to support the youth of both Nations continue that process.
A 15 minute introductory video provided clear information about each of the Nations and their territories before a guided tour through the exhibits. Our guide for this part was an older man with two apprentices shadowing him to absorb some of his knowledge. He explained traditions and legends really effectively; I particularly liked the two similar but different stories each Nation tells their young to keep them from straying into the forest & being eaten by bear, cougar, wolf etc.
I was fascinated by the weaving and the preparation required by the different forms such as cedar bark weaving or blanket weaving using mountain goat wool. The importance of canoes and the different types used by various groups within the two nations was also interesting - women tended to have smaller flat bottomed craft for gathering berries & weaving materials while men going hunting or fishing had larger flat bottomed craft suitable for moving up & down the river edges. The bigger sea going craft were really used only by the coastal groups trading across the Salish Sea. There were also much larger war canoes but rarely used.
The signifiance of totem and masks were explained, particularly how these crafts are being revived by certain families after nearly being lost through colonisation.
We took a break down in the Thunderbird cafe where we ate Bannock (a bit like fried bread) & washed it down with tea. Finished off our visit with a look-see round the long house, pit house and forest walk.
We then walked over to the Audain Art Museum to see more First Nation art plus work by Emily Carr and E. J. Hughes as well as by other important post-WW2 Canadian artists. An excellent collection - well worth visiting but avoid walking under the roof when snow is around!! The building itself is quite an amazing piece of architecture.
Before we headed back to Squamish we walked over to Whistler village centre where we had a cuppa and vege sausage roll followed by an icecream from Cows, supposedly the best icecream in Canada - didn't like the look of most flavours but chose PEI blueberry which was quite yummy.
The mist hadn't lifted it much as we drove back to Squamish. Lisa & Kyle came round with apple pancake mix & produced yummy pancakes for us all. After storytime with Sidney they went home for beddy-byes so the four of us remaining ate savoury leftovers from the previous evening's meal. Yummy scrummy!
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