Feasting for Change

NEW FFC resources

2011-09-26T16:12:00.000-07:00

The Feasting for Change project is currently creating some new resources

Resource 1: Development of Plant Learning Cards
Creation of a set of 66 different native plants local to the South Island area. The Feasting for Change Plant Knowledge Cards were inspired by our many plant walks and discussions about edible and medicinal plants.
Bring them out on walks to help identify plants, their uses and keep the old ways strong. Much of the plants and knowledge within these cards is focused on the Coast Salish Territory, but is generally applicable to
wherever these plants are found. As such, many of these plants have more uses and more stories attached to them. Please use these cards as an inspiration to talk to an Elder or Knowledge Keeper. An additional
note, not all of these plants are from pre-Contact eras. The plants are ones that are used currently by many people. To be available soon.

Resource 2: Celebration Book
The Feasting for Change Celebration Book is almost complete and should be ready by June 2012. It is a collection of the people, food, recipes, gifts and stories shared over the last 5 years of the program. The book follows the seasons and shares tips, recipes and experiences eating these foods.

Resource 3: SENĆOŦEN Food and Language Videos

The Feasting for Change group is partnering wtih Saanich Adult Education Centre and the SENĆOŦEN apprentices. 5 videos have been created in SENĆOŦEN about local food and plant knowledge. To be shared at a feast in October.

SCIA'NEW Feast Aug 26th, 2011

2011-09-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

On a beautiful and warm Aug day the SCIA'NEW First Nation, FFC, South Island Wellness and its talented and passionate communities members came together to feast. Isabelle helped bring all of us together with her hard work and dedication, Evelyn cooked all week to have fresh bread, baking with no dairy or wheat, fish soup, salmon and more. Lorena, Julie engaged the young children in games while we waited for our dinner. Pakki and Henry Chipps worked hard to prepare their yard for all 60 of us to see a traditional pit cook. They shared with us their method and techniques in cooking food in a pit. Chris and Henry cooked us salmon on the bbq and racks while Pakki took each 2 groups on a nature walk to view and learn about the plans of this area. Many thanks to Chief Russ Chipps, Dominic Charles and others for all their support.

Pacheedaht Fish Canning Day and Salmon BBQ and Smoking Clams

2011-09-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

On August 25th Earl Claxton Jr, JB Williams and I made the beautiful trip up to Pacheedaht First Nation on the beauiful west coast. We were welcomed there by Stacy Jones and the youth program leaders Carla and Alysha. The day was planned to can and bbq fish and also smoke clams on iron wood (oceanspray) sticks. We also made some scow bread with fresh blackberries. Delicious!

As you can see from the pictures above it was a wonderful day.

Cultural Symposium SAEC and W̱SÁNEĆ

2011-09-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

On June 15 over 300 learners and teachers were invited by The Saanich Adult Education Center and W̱SÁNEĆ School Board to participate in our 5th cultural symposium held for our students, community and educational partners. This year's event focused on celebrating the many aspects of our Aboriginal Culture and Identity.

WORKSHOPS INCLUDED:

• Traditional War Canoes

• Nature walks

• Clam Bake/Pit Cooking

• Salmon BBQ

• Drumming

• SENCOTEN language • Elders Circle & Teachings

• Abalone Shell painting

• Traditional Tea

• Indian Ice Cream

• Face painting

• Plants & Ecosystems

Pictures to follow..

Tsawout Seafood Festival June 11, 2011

2011-06-24T13:35:00.000-07:00

On this warm and beautiful day I attended the 4th Annual Tsawout Seafood Festival. What an grand event and congrats to Tsawout First Nation, Dan Claxton and all their volunteers.

Hiswke Siem

Highlights:

There was a pit cook led by Belinda Claxton and Nancy Turner.
Scow bread by Joan Morris
Salmon Ceremony
There were booths on water safety, traditional medicine books, cedar, safety and so much more
There was over 600 people there. Amazing!

MENU
Clam Chowder
Clams
Crabs
Mussels
BBQ salmon
Scallops
Salad
Baked bread and more!

Sea Asparagus

Salmon berry leaves

Putting the pit together

Opening the pit 4 hours later

FFC Update

2011-06-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

Hello all Feasting for Change friends and passionate food champions.

We have to apologize for the lack of communication and updates in the past months. It has been a time of change and reflection.   In November we were finishing up our year and had our visioning day for the future of the project.   One of goals of last year was to do an cultural map of people and programs that were interested or engaged in teaching the young people about the 'old ways.'   The goal of Feasting for Change by the end of year 3 was to have culture camps for young people.   Create a place for Elders, Knowledge Keepers and young leaders to come together to share, learn and grow!

We invited many of these groups to our visioning day in November. We came up with some ideas and realized there were not many groups with the capacity around a youth culture camp.  One group however came forward with their excellent programs and ideas. This is the Saanich Adult Education Centre - http://www.sisb.bc.ca/saec/.

Feasting for Change has decided to partner with the SAEC for the next 2 years and help broaden their culture camp to more young learners and to utilize thier strong language initatives into the food work.   The WSANEC school board has been mentoring and nuturing the SENTOCEN apprentices over the past years. These 5 emerging Language experts are a gift to our work.

The goals for Feasting for Change this year is to:

1) Create 5 SENTOCEN food harvesting and knowledge videos created by the SENTOCEN apprentices and their Elders.

2) Create a Learning Garden - We have been focusing on the young learners that go to school at the WSANEC school board - preschool to adult learners. We have created a 'Learning Garden' there lead by Cara Barter and Earl Claxton Jr.

3) Pit cook site creation on the school grounds - lead by JB Williams and the school is buillding a cob building with an cob overn. :)

4) 4 Feast events - one being the Annaual Cultural Symposium that had over 600 young leaners there this year.

Learning Garden - Events for May with Feasting for Change garden program

Friday May 6: Mother’s day potted tomatoes, 3 elementary school classes, approximately 50 students.

Wednesday May, 11: greenhouse gardening with the high school students, planting seedlings and bed clean-up: approximately 30 students

Wednesday May 18: workshop cancelled due to illness.

Wednesday May 25: planting workshop with the elementary students. 5 classes, planted herbs, melons, potatoes, seeded beans, peas, corn, squash and pumpkin: approx. 65 students.

So we will have 3 more feasts in the fall.

Jen and JB have also created amazing Plant Learing cards. There are 64 plant learning cards being created to use when you are out in nature to learn more about the plants. They have also tried to include the local languages in the cards.

We are also finishing up the local communtiy celebration book. It follows the seasons...

The beginning of the cob structure.

Grad 11 young men removing scotch broom.

Cara and the young learnings learning about the ivy and how it chocking the cedars.

Honey suckle

Cara sharing her teachings...

Feasting for Change 2010 - Year Summary!

2010-12-09T14:44:00.000-08:00

Feasting for Change: Reconnecting to Food, Land and Culture is a project guided by a broadly representative working group, collaborating since May 2007, who support urban and rural Aboriginal Communities in Southern Vancouver Island to enhance their food sovereignty and the sharing of the ‘old ways.’

Since May 2007, 32 such events have taken place and reached over 4,100 people.

Food Sovereignty is the state of being in which “all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self reliance and social justice” (Hamm and Bellows, 2002)

Purpose: The purpose of the Feasting for Change: Reconnecting to Food, Land and Culture Project is to bring Aboriginal Peoples in South Vancouver Island together around Traditional Food Feasts to discuss food security and food sovereignty in their communities. The goal is to identify community-specific issues around food and inspire action to address these issues.

Funding: The Feasting for Change project has generously been funded by the Horner Foundation, VanCity Sustainability Group, and the Tides Foundation.

Below are excerpts about Feasting for Change events through-out 2010. Please see our blog for detailed descriptions and a visual summary of these events at www.feastingforchange.com

Event 1: On March 13, 2010 UVIC students, Feasting for Change, and SeaChange came together to celebrate the beauty and sacredness of Snit’cel, the old village site of the WSANEC people in the Todd Inlet Park. Everyone worked together to gather materials for the pit cook. Earl Claxton Jr. taught how to use oceanspray stalks to smoke clams over a fire. The students gathered medicines for tea and Lewis told a story of how the birds got their songs while a salmon soup was prepared. After a small lunch, everyone split into two groups. One group helped remove invasive species and the other learned about medicines and indigenous plants. After the groups switched roles, the pit was opened. We feasted on root veggies, clams, apples and it was delicious. 60 people attended 5 young people, 20 UVIC students.

Event 2: On April 16 and 17, 2010 members from over 30 Coastal First Nations communities attended the 3rd Annual Conference on the Traditional Foods of Vancouver Island First Nations. The theme was Celebrating Indigenous Foods in a Changing World: Coastal Conversations among Youth, Elders and Community Members. Feasting for Change presented our project to a packed house, a participated in a display of traditional food projects and knowledge as one of twenty booths at the conference. Feasting for Change demonstrated traditional cooking techniques such as pit cooking skills, and smoking clams. We also supported workshops on bentwood box cooking and removing hides from deer. Over 300 people attended the conference, including 50 youth. Feasting for Change presented our project on the first day to a packed house and on the second was one of 20 booths displaying traditional food projects and knowledge. We also demonstrated pit cooking skills to over 300 people and supported workshops focused on removing hide from a deer, bentwood box cooking, smoking clams, baking scow bread and Elders teaching youth how to eat traditional foods. 300 people attended 50 young people.

Event 3: On May 11, 2010 Feasting for Change presented at the International Congress of Ethnobiology 2010 in Tofino, to over 100 people. It was truly inspiring to meet people from all over the world working hard on food issues and environment protection. It was a powerful moment. Youth from the Digital Harvesters were motivated to keep working on traditional food issues and became our strongest supporters.

Event 4: On June 5, 2010 Scia’new First Nation showcased the extensive knowledge, artistic skills, and experience that exist in their community to over 50 community members, including 15 youth. The youth loved knowledge keeper Evelyn Vandermas’ archival documents of how Scia’new people used the land and how the reserve boundary lines have changed. We also learned about how to carve, make masks with basket grass and cedar, cedar weaving, knit, spin, weave, and carding wool. Fourteen youth joined Lewis Williams on a nature walk. Elders taught the youth different traditional ways to cook and eat roe, crabs, mussels, clams and bannock. Each person got to make their own personal homemade pizza and cook it in Miteama Youth Project’s mobile cob oven. The demonstration cedar was donated to the Miteama Youth Project to help the youth learn cedar weaving and raise funds.

Event 5: On June 12, 2010 1200 people including over 70 youth, attended the Tsawout First Nation Seafood Festival on TIXEN (Cordova Spit). The day was filled with cultural activities including the first salmon ceremony and traditional pit cooking. There were information booths from Feasting for Change, the Goldstream Hatchery, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Vancouver Island Health Authority Aboriginal Health Diabetes Team, Parks Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, World Fisheries Trust/SeaChange with a Sea life Touch Tank, and the University of Victoria. Feasting for Change led the pit cook and we feasted on BBQ salmon, prawns, crabs, clam chowder, mussels, sea urchins, baked bread, corn, potatoes and much more. This event bridges outside community members, agencies and resources in a way that is essential to creating local, sustainable solutions to healthy food, land, and culture.

Event 6: On July 22, 2010 Feasting for Change working group members travelled to Snaw’naw’as First Nation to support their 2nd Annual Feasting for Change event organized by champion Vanessa Bob. 55 people attended, including 17 youth. Highlights included Fear Factor where they blended up McDonalds to demonstrate the value of food. This day was full of fun, laughter and great people. We learned how to play lahal, how to pit cook, to BBQ salmon, cook deer, cut and cook crabs and harvest clams. It was wonderful to see the community together and excited!

Event 7: On August 23, 2010 T’Sou-ke First Nation hosted 12 young people and 35 community members to celebrate the many gifts of their Territory. Leader and passionate food champion Christine George organized the day with great joy and expertise. Elders Shirley Alphonse and Linda Bristol opened the day with a welcome and prayer. Everyone learned to gather mussels, rockstickers (also known as stickshoes or kytons) and dig for clams. The food was scraped, cleaned and then boiled in some of the clam juice. We also made a delicious clam chowder on the beach, a fresh picked berry salad, and a fruit salad. John Ryce lightly smoked and then BBQ'd the fish. It was the best fish we have ever had.

Event 8: On August 24, 2010 Feasting for Change with Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations, and Gorge Waterway Discovery Centre hosted a learning day in Gorge Waterway Park, known traditionally as KEMOTEN (the shortcut). 60 people and 20 youth came to learn and experience traditional ways first hand. Cheryl Bryce demonstrated how to pit cook by the beach and Lewis Williams led a plant walk. Indigenous plants donated by the Township of Esquimalt were planted, UVIC Community Mapping Group built a community map, and Anna Spahan and Earl Claxton Jr. taught about traditional ways and medicines. August Thomas also taught the youth how to play lahal, a traditional game using bone sticks.

Event 9: On September 2, 2010 Pacheedaht First Nation invited Feasting for Change back out to their gorgeous beach front to revive and celebrate the teachings of their ancestors through the pit cooking method that the late Ida Jones shared with Nancy Turner. 15 youth dug the pits, gathered the materials, and put the pit together under the direction of their Elders. After the pit was in, Lewis Williams’ led a nature walk and the youth excitedly took the smelting fishing net down to the beach to catch fish and learn to cook them. Elder Stacy Jones closed the day with truly inspiring teachings reminding all of us of the importance of learning and respecting each of these opportunities. 35 people attended.

Event 10: On October 1, 2010 Pauquachin First Nation celebrated the many skills of its members. 80 attendees and 20 youth learned more about knitting, weaving, carving, and beading. They listened to Elders tell stories of traditional ways and foods. The kids piled into the community gym at the end of the school day, eager to learn and proud of their families knowledge. Everyone sat down to a delicious meal cooked by community members Mandy and Joan Henry.

Event 11: On October 28, 2010 over 200 people and 50 youth came to the Tsawout community gym to share, learn and network at Healthy Food, Healthy Families: Food is Medicine. Over 27 exhibitors focused on traditional food demonstrations, health care information, kids and family health, and community wellness. The event was sponsored by the Saanich Adult Care Society, Feasting for Change, Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities. We finished the day with a lovely meal and the movie Teachings of the Tree People: The Work of Bruce Miller about a Skokomish Elder.

Event 12: On October 29, 2010 over 50 Songhees community members, including 20 youth got into Halloween costumes as youth Sandy George led a pit cook, smoked salmon and feasted to celebrate the community garden. The day was chock full of youth carving pumpkins, a tour of the community garden, BBQing food and smoking different kinds of salmon.The first round of Fear Factor contestants had to eat seaweed, oolichans, broccoli, bean salad, olives, peppers, jalapenos and beans. The first four winner moved on to Round 2 and had to eat oolichan grease and blended up McDonalds. The winner got an IPOD shuffle. What a day!

Event 13: On November 3, 2010 20 people including 6 youth envisioned priorities for action for the coming year and how Feasting for Change fits within a youth-focused community. Inspiring ideas and a potential plan/ partnership for 2011 have emerged.

This year, Feasting for Change hosted or supported several workshops focused on learning traditional knowledge and skills. These workshops are listed below.

January 26: Plant Identification walk

February 5: “Where the Blood Mixes”, a play at the Belfry Theatre

February 19: Plant harvest and Identification walk

February 2: Anna Spahan taught about medicines

March16: Cedar Stripping

March 30: Harvesting stinging nettles

April 6: Harvesting Tea for giveaways

April 13: Harvesting Tea for giveaways

April 27 & May 4: Garden Creation with VNFC

April 28: Attended SENCOTEN conference

May 14: Attended SAEC Cultural Symposium Day

May 19: Presented Sandy George’s Digital Harvesters story to youth at Hans Helgeson and

Belmont schools

May 26: Presented at Ecole Brodeur to Parent Advisory Council

May 21: Presented at South Island Wellness Society for Youth and Elder Wellness Day

June 3: VICCIFN Sustainability planning

June 10: Garden Creation at Tsawout

June 21: Attended Tsawout Craft Fair

July 28: Presented Sandy George and Raven Hartley’s Digital Harvesters stories to youth in

Scia’new

August 18: Nature walk with Pacheedaht youth group

September 14 & October 12: Cedar Weaving

October 10: Canning Fruit in T’Sou-ke

November 6: Gaffing Fish with Earl at Goldstream

November 13: Smoking Fish with Earl

November 14: Canning Tomatoes and Veggies in T’Sou-ke

December 16: Canning Fishing in T’Sou-ke

Going Fishing

2010-11-10T12:33:00.000-08:00

Goldstream Gaffing and Fishing Day Nov 5th, 2010. A group of us were invited by Earl Claxton Jr to join him out on a day of Gaffing and Dip Netting of Coho fish in Goldstream River.

Coho are great for Smoking and for Baking. Delicious.

Songhees Community Garden Pit Cook Oct 29th, 2010

2010-11-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

Boo!

On Oct 29th the Songhees Community Garden invite the whole communtiy to join together to celebate the success of the year, Halloween and highlight the new salmon smoker and how to do a traditional pit cook.

Sandy and Will George brothers worked together to prepare, organize and plan the event. They worked with Geraldine, Ron and Norma.

For the Pit cook Sandy and Will dug the pit and Sandy and Jen collected and harvested the ferns and salal for the pit.

My name is Will. I helped out with the traditional Pit Cook, me and my brother hosted it. I also have worked as the Community Garden Leader for our New Songhees Garden.

This is Me, Sandy George. I have been a youth leader for the Feasting for Change project for this last year.

This is Me, holding some Olichan grease from Northern BC.

This is Earl Claxton Jr who is always there to support learning around the old way and he is a good role model.

Getting ready to put everything in the pit.

This is Linda Dick who is helping put the salal on the pit. We had to put all the ingredients for the pit together in a mintue.

This is a picture of us having to put the tarp over the food and greenery and then shovel the earth on as fast we can to keep the heat and steam in.

Pit is in the ground, so we have 4 hours to wait.

Sandy wanted to do a Youth Fear Factor. A event that challenges partipants with traditional and modern foods. Sandy wanted to challenge them to drinking McDonalds. Haha

Doesn't it look delicious! How would you feel after drinking a cup of that?

Food Fear Factor - Seaweed, Olichans, broccoli, bean salad, olives, peppers, jalapenos and beans. Participants had to eat this plate and then the first 4 winners moved on to round 2 of the McDonalds drink. The winner won a IPOD shuffle.

When we we opened the pit, a good 'stink' went around in the air.

The food was then pulled from the ground and we feasted on Salmon, the pit cooked veggies, smoked salmon, fried bread and more! It was delicious!

Pauquachin Feast Oct 1st, 2010

2010-11-10T11:23:00.000-08:00

On October 1rd, 2010 the Feasting for Change working group was invited to support the 4th Feast.

The focus of this day was to celebrate Pauquachin First Nation and the many skills of its members. Community members share their knowledge and skills about knitting, weaving, carving, and beading. They listened to Elders tell stories of traditional medicines. The kids piled into the community gym at the end of the school day, eager to learn and proud of their families knowledge. Everyone sat down to a delicious meal cooked by community members Mandy and Joan Henry. We feasted on crabs, salmon chowder, baked bread, berry and green salad and traditional tea.

It was a great day.

Pictures to follow.

Feasting for Change Visioning Day Nov 3rd

2010-11-10T11:08:00.000-08:00

On November 3rd 2010 a group of passionate Elders, youth and community members came together to vision for the future feasting year. They were invited for dinner asked to come with these questions in mind:

• If you had lots of time and lots of resources, what kind of program would you create?
• If you had little time and few resources, what kind of program would you create?
• What are you passionate about with regard to food, culture, language, knowledge and skill transfer?
• How do you want your community to look and what role do you want to play in making it look like this?
• What does success look like?

What are some things you would like to see happen for Elders and Youth around Food, Land and Culture?
-More events for Elders and youth to share knowledge of the differenct generations ie digital story telling?
-I would like to see more youth participating in the events. Maybe get more direct line to the Nations classes and more recuritment tyoe of sessions at the schools. Also maybe use the new communications like facebook to reach the youth?
-Sharing of how to gather, prepare, preserve
-SENCOTEN names
-Cultural uses

Feasting for Change: Vision for Our Communities – NOVEMBER 3rd, 2010

Our communities will have:
People to teach skills
A place and regular time where youth and elders can gather together
Family focused activities and events
Settings where youth are encouraged and can get skills like facilitation and talking in front of people
Access to wild food sources and medicines
Community gardens and planter boxes with traditional plants and other foods
Access to community gardens
Our own smokehouses
Holistic approaches to wellness, food, and physical activity
A safe and open learning environment
A multipurpose building
Ongoing activities to keep the energy up (eg. for youth, a week in the woods, living in the old ways)
Increased knowledge sharing of traditional treaty rights

Our communities will be:
Hosts of feasts and participants in the feasts of other communities
Places of capacity building for all generations: children, youth, parents, elders
Places where all generations have a clear role
Judgment free places
Places where everyone feels safe and honoured

Statement of Principles and Values

The Feasting for Change Working Group is committed to:

• Creating interactive, experiential events and activities that provide intergenerational opportunities for the transfer of knowledge and experience.
• Providing capacity- and skill- building events and activities that are educational and enhance cultural integrity.
• Facilitating a youth-driven process.
• Honouring and incorporating spirituality.
• Working in a relationship-based and relationship-building way with openness, patience, respect and commitment.
• Taking responsibility for self, community, generations, culture, earth, water.
• Creating sustainable programs that have purpose and relevance.
• Having fun.

COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND PLANS

Feasting for Change – Priorities for Action
Purpose: To vision to expand community-based programs that connect youth, Elders, food, land, and culture.

• Class for teaching traditional foods. Jen, Lou-Ann, Sandy
• More youth and elder events based on knowledge transfer Sandy, Lateasha, Leonita, Jeff, Fiona.
• Youth leadership role/encourage youth to step outside of their comfort zone and take a healthy risk. Sandy, Lateasha, Leonita, Jeff, Isabelle
• Find resources to support the knowledge keepers (for things like traveling throughout the island.) Isabelle
• Identify the teachers. Identify the learners. Isabelle
• Up-island movement of programs/all island youth connected by food activities, regularly, build ties. Erin, Debbie, Sandy
• Broad-scale native food ecosystem restoration. Judith
• Strong leadership. Jen, Fiona
• National and international knowledge exchange/larger scale trading of traditional foods
• Central location/gathering places Jen
• Find more money! Isabelle, Lou-Ann.
• Grow/harvest enough food for everyone (in each community)

SnawNawAs First Nation July 22nd

2010-11-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

It was a gorgeous day in Snaw-naw-as when the community invited us back up to their land to celebrate in the 2^nd Annual Feasting for Change Event. Community Leader and Champion Vanessa Bob organized and supported the day. There were many excited and motivated helpers on that day.

Preparing the Fear Factyor this year which was blenderized McDonalds to show everyone how gross the food is and how you feel after eating it. A quarter pounder with fries and a coke were put in the blender.

We started preparing the pit cook. Jake Bob took the lead with support from South Island friends Lewis Williams and Earl Claxton Jr.

We also prepared salads, clams, crab and bbq salmon. It was amazing.

This day was full of fun, laughter and great people. We learned how to play Lahal, how to pit cook, to bbq salmon, cook deer, cut and cook crabs and so much more. We thank the Snaw-naw-as community for their hearts and passion for youth, community and food.

Saanich Nutrition Fair and Feast

2010-11-08T15:12:00.000-08:00

On Oct 28th over 200 people came to the Tsawout community gym to share, learn and network around food, land and health.

The event was sponsored by the Saanich Adult Care Society, Feasting for Change, Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities Network and hosted in Tsawout community gym.

Over 27 exhibitors were invited and attended: The day was full of food tastings, nutrition booths, food demos and more.

Healthy Food, Healthy Families

FOOD IS MEDICINE

Traditional Food Demos
• Smoked Clams
• Native plant table and walk
• Medicine Plants with Anna Spahan

Health Care Info
• Dental Care and Screening
• Kidney and Heart Diseases
• Celiac, Diabetes, Diverticulosis information

Kids and Family Health
• Breast Feeding tips and how to feed your baby
• Fresh food sampling with recipes
• Exercise Expert

Community Wellness
• Naturopath information
• Gardening and composting Information
• How to cook your favourite foods

We ate a delicious meal created by Rose Jimmy and then watched a powerful movie shared to us all by Thomas Sampson - MOVIE - Teachings of the Tree People – Bruce Miller

Scianew Cedar Weaving

2010-11-08T15:05:00.000-08:00

At the Scianew Feast in June Lydia offered some cedar to the group to help support them in learning more about weaving and the uses for cedar.

Lydia taught us how to weave cedar into headdresses, rope, bracelets, cedar roses. Her enthusiasm for the sacred cedar came through as she shared not only her skills but her teachings about how to treat cedar, and what cedar has to teach us. Many hands were busy around the table learning how cedar works and how to work with it to form many beautiful things. The items will be sold and proceeds with be used to fund Isabelle Charles's youth programs as they did not receive funding this year. Cedar weaving will happen again next week to continue making items for sale.

This community is hosting a First Nations Xmas Bazzar on Dec 4th and 5th. The community will be selling some of the weaving.

GorgeWater Way Feast Aug 24rd, 2010

2010-09-23T13:52:00.000-07:00

On August 24th 2010 the Gorge water Way Discover Centre, Feasting for Change and members of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nation came together to learn more about the territory, the land, food and culture of the KEMOTEN (the shortcut). The day focused on a Community Picnic and a variety of other activities:

A demonstration pit cook by Cheryl Bryce;
Delicious and beautifully presented pit cooked food
Baked Scow bread on sticks over the fire
Games of Lahal shared by August Thomas
Native plant planting by Township of Esquimalt arbourists and by attendees
Native vegetation walks led by Lewis Williams
Community mapping of special and meaningful places by UVIC Community Mapping Group
Information booths including a traditional medicinal tea table with Anna Spahan and Earl Claxton Jr

Busy at work, preparing the pit and meeting all the great people.

Anna and Isabelle our Elders who support us so much. Anna and Medicine Table.

Jen, Lewis and Ken our great champions

Sue and Fiona - a great team.

August Thomas sharing his knowledge and skills at Lahal. Putting the pit together!

The veggies for the pit.

The Greenery...

Baking the bread on the fire!

Invasive removal time and reintroduce native plants.

Lewis is sharing his knowledge!

Opening the pit!

Sandy and Carla...great work everyone! Thanks to Natalia and Carla for all your hard work!

Pacheedaht Feast September 2nd 2010

2010-09-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

On a warm and sunny September day, the community invited Feasting For Change back out to their gorgeous beach front to celebrate the teachings of their ancestors especially the Pit cooking method that Ida Jones shared with Nancy Turner. Nancy has helped and support all of us in bringing this method back to the community.

Stacy, Carlson and Sandy have a rest before the work of putting the pit together.

The busy action of creating a pit. Many hands help get the greenery, food, and fish into the ground.

Closing up the pit and sealing the steam inside.

The Smelting demonstration begins.

Great Shot Sandy!

Baking Scow bread on the fire and also experimenting with baking bread in the sand

Stacy Jones closing the day after the nature walk and pit opening and reminding all of us of the importance of learing and respecting each of these opportunitites.

Many thanks Pacheedaht!

Pacheedaht Nature Walk Aug 18 2010

2010-09-16T14:13:00.001-07:00

Over the past weeks the youth group in the Pacheedaht First Nation have been working together and learning more about the plants and foods in their territory. On August 18th, the group was lead on a Nature walk by invited guests Earl Claxton Jr and Lewis Williams from the Tsawout First Nation. Community member Stacy Jones and Madelen Jones lead and welcomed us to the old harvesting territory by Farry Lake. They had found out at their last treaty meeting that this was the old plant and medicine harvesting place.

List of Plants we saw in Pacheedaht with a brief summary from Lewis Williams

1) Cloak of the frog (Common Plantain): This plant can be used to treat mosquito bites and bee stings, chew it up a little then apply to area.

2) English plantain: This one can also be used for mosquito bites and bee stings, and the Saxons used it to cure headaches by wrapping it with red wool to their heads.

3) Sap of Spruce: The sap was used as gum, like today’s gum is.

4) Small flower Alumroot: The Skagit pounded it and rubbed it in little girls hair to help it grow thick, also they used for cuts.

5) Sword fern: Sword fern is a sacred plant to the Saanich people and is used in a lot of ceremonies to this day.
6) Lady’s fern: This is a beautiful fern that can inhabit the areas as the Sword fern and you can eat the fiddle heads of both species.

7) Skunk cabbage: The leaves of the Skunk cabbage are used by the Saanich people to wrap their food when using the pitcook method. The flesh in the stem can be eaten.

8) Hookers fairy bells: Some interior nations ate the berries but most northwest coast peoples consider them poisonous and associated them with snakes or ghosts.

9) Huckleberry: This berry comes in three different species on Vancouver Island, there is the Red huckleberry, The Evergreen huckleberry and the Oval leafed huckleberry.

10) Wall lettuce: This is an introduced plant that is quite well spread out through Vancouver Island and is bitter until it gets a frost then it will sweeten up.

11) Fungus, Conk, Echoes: This is used to absorb bad energy or gossip that is being said about you or thrown your way.

12) Pacific Sanicle: Sanicles are unpopular in pastures because if eaten by the cows it will impart an unpleasant flavour to the milk.

13) False lily of the valley: The Cowichan drank a root tea to treat internal injuries.

14) Old man’s beard (grey mans beard): There is a legend that says do not get this on your head or you will become lost in life, in spirituality, or emotionally.

15) Osier dogwood: The branches were used as salmon spreaders and basket rims.

16) Hard Hack: The branches were used by some Nuu-chah-nulth to make brooms for collecting tubular marine dentalis shells, which was a form of currency among the northwest coast peoples.

17) Pearly Everlasting: Ditidaht healers rub this plant on their hands to make them soft.

18) Cooley’s hedge nettle: This plant is in the mint family and was used by some for medicine, by others it was eaten, then there was some nations that did not consider it edible.

19) Burdock: The leaves can be used to treat bee stings and the root can be made into a tea to cleanse the blood.

20) Clover : This plant can be used in a salad, the whole plant can be eaten and is a source of iron.

T'Souke First Nation Feast Aug 23, 2010

2010-09-16T11:53:00.000-07:00

On August 23rd 2010 the T’Sou-ke First Nation invited many to join them in a day to celebrate the many gifts of their Territory. The day was to engage the youth and young people around their food, land and culture. Leader and passionate food champion Christine George organized the day with great joy and expertise. The day began with a welcome and prayer by Elders Shirley Alphonse and Linda Bristol. They settled us all together and helped us give thanks to Mother Earth and the Creator for the gifts of the food.

The day focused on hands on learning. All the participants we separated into gathering groups and set out to gather mussels, rockstickers, stickshoes and dig for clams. The food was scraped and cleaned and the food was boiled in some of the clam juice. We also made a delicious clam chowder on the beach. John was busy with the freshly caught salmon from Joe. John then lightly smoked and then BBQ'd the fish. It was the best fish we have ever had. We were also treated to freshly picked berry salad and fruit salad. Delicious.

Tsawout Seafood Festival 2010

2010-07-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

Seafood Festival June 12, 2010

The Tsawout First Nation Seafood Festival is an annual event held at Tsawout on the Saanich Peninsula. The event was located on TIXEN, which is also known as Cordova Spit. The event was a day of education on seafood, and learning the importance of harvesting these foods so they can be incorporated into our daily diet.

This year’s event took place on June 12th 2010, from 11:00am – 3:00 pm. The day was filled with cultural activities including the first salmon ceremony and traditional pit cooking. We will also have information booths set up for the day’s participants, which will include the Goldstream Hatchery, RCMP, Feasting for Change, Diabetes Team, Parks Canada, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, World Fisheries Trust/Seachange (Sea life Touch Tank) and the University of Victoria to name a few.

Delicious Sea Urchins away the crowds of passionate eaters.

Over 1200 people attended the event and feasting on BBQ salmon, prawns, crabs, clam chowder, mussels, sea urchins, baked bread, corn, potatoes and much more.

Nancy Turner hunting for greens for the pit.

Earl Claxton Jr sharing his tools and resources.

The Real FAST food - fresh fruits to go!

Cooking and cleaning crab!

BBQ fish.

Pit cooking experts and friends Belinda Claxton and Nancy Turner.

Putting the pit together!

Herman Underwood teaching his fish cleaning skills.

Roberta Pelkey sharing her weaving expertise as she makes the top of a cedar hat.

The Salmon Ceremony lead by the Pelkey Family.

The Feasting For Change Youth Sandy and Kat with their mentor Jen!

Opening the pit - the Oysters are ready!

Collecting the delicious food out of the pit.

It was again an amazing event. We all hold our hands up to Dan Claxton and the Tsawout First Nation Community for creating an event that highlight the importance of the traditional foods, the waterways and lands that provide them. Their dedication to creating an day that bridges the outside communities members, agencies and resources together is essential to creating sustainable solutions to healthy food, land and culture.

Scianew Feast June 5th, 2010

2010-06-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

It was a glorious day in Scianew First Nation for the 2nd Annual Feasting For Change Event. The table was set highlighting the many knowledgable and skilled community members who make this beautiful community their home.

Evelyn and Isabelle are passionate community leaders who wanted to provide the youth with a day to connect and see the knowledge and experience that exists in their community.

The day was a casual with tables and interactive demonstrations. Below are some pictures highlighting the day.

Some of the Elders supporting the day and sharing with the youth. Thank you Lee, Burt and Anna.

Thanks to Evelyn and Henry we had some samples of some delicious foods. Roe, Crabs, Mussels and Clams. Delicious!

Tina and Isabelle sharing their new creation the COB Oven. Everyone got to make their own homemade pizza.

Having a snack!

The youth looking at all the history of their community. Evelyn brought archive pictures, many documents and history of the community. The youth were so interested in how the community used to look and how their ancestors used to use and access the land. By Canoe! Maps also showed the territorial lines along with modern day maps.

Earl Claxton Jr and Lewis Williams from Tsawout came out and shared their teachings as well. Lewis took 14 youth on a nature walk and Earl set up a cooking station for all the traditional food.

Darryl Barker making his famous bannock. He shared his baking skills with all of us. It was delicious.

Tina showing the youth how the cob over works and getting ready to cook the personal pizzas.

Narcess sharing his carvings. Amazing work!

Lewis getting ready to take the youth on a plant identification walk. Tina working hard getting the oven hot enough.

Isabelle and Eve sharing their knitting skills.

Many of Henry's Carving and Basket Grass from Jordan River. The many uses of Cedar and Grass used for art and ceremonial masks and Regalia.

Cedar Weaving - preparing the cedar after it has been stripped from the tree.

Henry and Earl getting the fire ready to smoke the food and bake the fish.

Preparing the fire and food.

Henry getting the fish ready.

Youth helping earl with the fire and digging a small pit.

The knitting station.

Some of Scianew history. Thanks to Evelyn for sharing all her great research and archives.

Youth learning more about where they have come from and the history of their home.

The beautiful Cob oven.

The purpose of the day was to have each community member set up an interactive display showcasing their knowledge, skills and abilities. Over 50 Adults, youth and children shared stories, skills and their passions.

The pictures above only capture some of the beautiful people and stories that were shared. We thank everyone for their time, knowledge, experience and resources.

3rd Annual Traditional Foods Conference and the Digital Harvesters 2010

2010-05-27T15:11:00.001-07:00

Hello all

It has sure been a busy last few months. Feasting for Change has been on the move and working hard on the foods conference and much more. Here is a bit about the last few months.

In Victoria, BC on April 16 and 17, 2010, members from over 30 Coastal First Nations communities attended the 3rd Annual Conference on the Traditional Foods of Vancouver Island First Nations.

The conference follows two very successful conferences held in Nanaimo. The theme this year was “Celebrating Indigenous Foods in a Changing World: Coastal Conversations among Youth, Elders and Community Members.”

The purpose of the gathering was to bring people together to celebrate the traditional foods and people of Vancouver Island First Nations and to discuss the four pillars of nutrition, healing, safety and community.

Day 1 was be hosted at the First Peoples House at the University of Victoria and over 150 people attended the day that featured speakers, panellists, open discussions and amazing short film-screenings. (See link below for the Digital Harvest videos) The day went into the evening and included a Feast and evening of entertainment. Earl, Lewis, Jen and I presenting our work, digital story and the knowledge basket. It was great.

Day 2 was held out in the Tsawout First Nation at their new community building. Over 300 people came for a day of networking and hands-on activities, demonstrations and displays. There were over 20 booths of people working hard on Indigenous Food Issues. Feasting for Change and VICCIFN were both there at met so many great people. There were some great outdoor activities like removing the hike from a deer, eating sea urchins, traditional pit cook, cooking food in a bentwood box, smoking clams and baking scow bread on the fire.

The food on day 2 was delicious and a huge community event. We feasted on clams chowder, smoked fish soup, crabs, salmon, urchins, prawns, lingcod, delicious berries and baked bread. A huge thank to Snaw-naw-as's Vanessa and Jake Bob for their clams and soup! Rose Jimmy and her crew did an amazing job on the food. Also Arron Sam caught lots of the delicious food. Hych-ka Siem to all the many food helpers, Abe, Kate, Tommy, Joceyln and so many more!

Photos from the 2010 Traditional Foods of Vancouver Island First Nations can now seen at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mkiemele/

DIGITAL HARVEST Project
The 2 days before the conference the Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities Indigenous Food Network (VICCIFN) worked on the Digital Harvest Project.
Please see this great story for some insight into this project http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBYNaufoYOo&feature=related

Over the 2 days the Elders and youth created 23 stories.
See the amazing stories at this link. All the stories are on the right hand side of the screen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSaPhloqIUs

Then Feasting for Change was asked to come to Tofino for the International Congress of Ethnobiology 2010. It was an amazing event to meet people all over the world working hard on food issues and enviornment protection. On the Tuesday night was a community networking event and we were able to share our story and Knowledge basket with people all over the world. It was powerful.

Some of the youth in the Digital Harvest Project presented at the conference. The Nuu-chah-nulth youth Damon, Nikki, Mitch and Keenan presented their stories and the work they do on their youth council to over 80 people. The youth were give 2 standing ovians. They rocked.

Now it is time for a season of harvesting, teaching, learning and FEASTING! Hope to see you all!

Feasting for Change

Feasting for Change Event Snitcel March 13th 2009

2010-03-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hello all Feasting Friends

It was a wonderful day, as the students from UVIC, people of Feasting for Change, the SeaChange staff came together to celebrate the beauty and sacredness of Snitcel. The sun was shining and people were getting busy digging the pit and building a fire. The group of UVIC students and community members were split up into four smaller groups the first one went to a nearby stream to collect more rocks; the second harvested salal branches, with the third picked sword ferns and then the forth collected oceanspray. The rocks, salal branches and sword ferns were for the pit while the oceanspray was used for a clam bake and make baked bread too.
When it was time to put the materials in the pit when the rocks were hot enough to cook with; every one of the volunteers worked amazingly fast. There were seven pairs that were lined up in the order that layers in the pit. The layers were salal, sword fern, then the root vegetables, and apples with clams; then the order was revised sword fern and salal on the top. While all of that was going on the clam bake was taking place down on the beach.

After the pit was closed, I (Lewis) told a legend story about how some of the birds got they songs while we all sat to enjoy some medicine tea that was collected by some of the students. The plants that were harvested were:

-trailing blackberry leaves (Rubus ursinus)
-licorice fern rhizome (Polypodium glycyrrhiza)
-Red Cedar tips (Thuja plicata)
-Yerba buena (Clinopodium douglasii)
-stinging nettle (Urtica dioica)
-lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)

We also enjoyed some smoked salmon soup make by Jen, Sue and Doug. It was delicious. The weather was changing a bit so it really warmed us all up.
We then got back to work and split into 2 groups – One group was to learn about the plants in Snitcel and the other was to help remove invasive species in the park. It was amazing to see how much work the groups got done. They were powerful and passionate in removing the invasive species while learning about all the medicines and indigenous plants in the territory.
As the groups came back together they could go down to the water and spend time watching Earl Claxton Jr prepare this Iron wood sticks to bake the clams and bake the oysters by the fire. Earl is such a wealth of knowledge and stories. Thank you.

It was now time to enjoy the bounty of the Pit. As the group got together they opened the pit and we feasted on the root veggies, clams, apples and it was delicious.
Thank you to everyone, Nikki from Seachange, Brenda Beckwith Uvic and her amazing class, the feasting for change working group especially Doug, Sue, Jen and Fiona

Lewis Williams, Tsawout First Nation
Seachange and Feasting for Change

Feasting in Namgis First Nation

2009-12-15T11:53:00.000-08:00

Prayers were answered as the morning sun cleared the rainy clouds still leftover from the day before. The South Island Feasting for Change working group members Fiona Devereaux, Earl Claxton Jr., John BradleyWilliams, Anna Spahan and Jen McMullen had drove up to Alert Bay the weekend of October 24th, for the Alert Bay Feasting for ChangeTraditional Foods Feast hosted by Jean Smith, Traditional FoodsCoordinator in the beautiful Namgis longhouse.

Jean Smith, along with Jamie Hunt, Erin Rowsell, Sharon Gorden and many others organized fun activities during the day-long event for the Alert Bay community.The early morning kitchen bustle grew as vegetables, clams and salmon pieces were being chopped for the lunch that marked the beginning of the feasting day. Three full tables kept going back for seconds as we shared a tasty meal of clam and fish chowders.

Lunch gave way to afternoon activities that included an outdoor pitcook, a nature walk in the Gator Garden led by Earl and John Bradley. Many people came back excited by what they had learned from Earl and John Bradley. In the bighouse, the cooks had set up salmon bbq'ing around the longhouse fire. What a glorious picture! Beside the fire, people sat talking and watching the salmon roasting. In addition, there was a cedar weaving workshop where youth and others wove cedar bracelets, and medicinal teachings and teas/salves by Eva Dick, as well as Feasting for Change's table displaying books by local First Nation's authors on Indigenous foods and Feasting for Change's Knowledge Basket.

After the invigorating nature walk, Sharon started the Indigenous Foods Fear Factor! There were five rounds, the participants in each round had to eat everything on their plate withoutmaking faces to make it to the next round. There were raw fish eyes,herring eggs, salmon eggs, ..... The winner was ... and she won an mP3player. After the Fear Factor, Sharon organized the youth into two teams. The teams competed to see who could answer the most questions onIndigenous foods, including their traditional names and identification.The X team, consisting of XXXX shared their winnings. Next, everyone participated in the Indigenous foods bingo, organized by Fiona.

The non-stop and cheerful cooks obviously knew what they were doing when an incredible feast was brought out into the longhouse. The tables sagged with several different kinds of salmon: smoked, breaded, grilled- all really tasty. Other foods were yummy bannock that everyone raved about, salad, herring eggs, and the pitcook vegetables. The food was all harvested and preserved by the rayers were answered as the morningsun cleared the rainy clouds still leftover from the day before.

So wonderful to spend time with such amazing people.

We would like to acknowledge the Namgis First Nation for their interest and support in Feasting for Change, the BC Healthly Living Alliance, Canadian Cancer Society and Vancity for their support, encouragement and passion for this project and the connect to Food, Land and Culture.

Many Thanks, Gilakesla, Hych'ka, Choo

2 more pictures from Snaw-naw-as Feast

2009-09-01T12:17:00.001-07:00

2 more pictures from Snaw-naw-as Feast

2009-09-01T12:10:00.000-07:00

Elsie Claxton's Memorial Garden - WSANEC

2009-08-18T13:10:00.001-07:00

Elise Claxton Memorial Garden Tour
With John Bradley Williams, Nancy Turner, Earl Claxton Jr and Judith Arney.

Wsanec Trail at Glendale Gardens, Saanich BC
August 17, 2009

In a glorious summers day a keen group of 20 plant lovers listened and shared in the knowledge and teachings of the Saanich People.
John Bradley Williams led us through the amazing trail that created though a partnership with the Harvest woods working group. He, Judith, Nancy, and Earl Jr created an interruption walk. We walked through the gardens and were shared the teachings and knowledge of over 10 plants. There was still much more to see but we stopped for tea and a great time to visit and share.

Below are the plants we talked about:

1) Salal Berries – Are still harvested and are commonly made into jams by itself or mixed with other berries. The branches were used by our hunters as blinds because the leafs stay green for a long time.

2) Red Huckleberries – The berries are sweet and bright red, these are one of the berries made into jams with Salal, Blackberry, Oregon grape and a lot of the other berries that are found the area.

3) High Bush Cranberries – These berries are really bitter and need to be submerged in water for 6 to 7 days to sweeten up.

4) Grand Fir – The needles are high in vitamin C and were used to treat scurvy that the Europeans had gotten from having to sail so far. The best time to harvest the needles is when there is new growth in the spring and last until mid-summer.

5) Trailing Blackberries – These blackberries are the only native to the island, there is two introduced ones as well, the Himalayan and the Evergreen blackberries. The native ones usually ripen in the summer time and are made into pies, cakes as well as jams.

6) Bull Rush – You can peel the skin the length of the blade and use your thumb nail to gently scrap the flesh from the centre of the blade to get the porous material to use as a candle wick, all you need is a source of oil.

7) Salmon Berries – The young shoots taste sweet in the spring before they get too tall because they will get fibrous and taste bitter. The berries have three colors when they are ripe that is yellow, orange and red. These berries are usually one of the first ones to ripen.

8) Pacific Crab Apple – This is a small native apple that is still harvested today. Commonly mixed in jams with sweeter berries or other fruit because it is bitter. The fruit of the Pacific Crab Apple needs to be submerged in water to sweeten just like the High-bush Cranberry.

9) Thimbleberry – The Thimbleberry is in the raspberry family and like the young shoots of the Salmonberry these ones can be eaten in the spring. The berries are delicate and can easily be crushed in your fingertips which give rise to the second common name the Kiss Berry because if you “kiss the berry” it will come undamaged.

10) CatTail and Tules –These two aquatic plants were used to mats, curtains, and covers for food to protect it from the heat of the sun. The Tule was used to make large mats for insulation of our houses. These mats can be as large as six feet in width by eight feet in length.

Pictures....

2009-07-28T15:12:00.001-07:00

Hello all..

Just sharing some Pictures...

Feasting the Island - BCHLA

2009-07-27T15:00:00.001-07:00

The BC Healthy Living Alliance along with Vancity is supporting this project along with many of the community members and leaders.

We have been funded by the BCHLA to develop a 'Knowledge Basket' or a tool kit to help share the stories, teachings and tips on how to bring communities together to share aroud foods. Setting the table and feasting has been apart of Aboriginal communites for hundreds of years. We are taking what the Elders asked us to do and bringing the youth and Communities together around food, land and culture.

The Knowledge Basket will include the digital story and the slideshow with over 400 pictures of local people enjoying food, sharing skills and knowledge and having fun. It will also have an event planning checklist, food bingo, draw prize questions, feast invitations, elder invitations and poster templates. We have been using these resources to help up island nations Feast for Change and had our first Feast last Wed in Snaw-naw-as. It was amazing. Pictures and summary to follow! What a community!

We will be putting all of our learnings on DVD so communities can access this. We will be gifting all the nations in BC with the DVD and selling the DVD to other communities across BC. Above picture is a draft cover of the Basket.

We hope to have it available soon and hope to be sharing it with all of BC at the 10th Annual BC Food Systems Conference in Chehalis this September.

Snaw-naw-as Feast - The Adventures of Hawk and Doug on Feasting for Change

2009-07-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

The day started off beautifully. There was a great energy in the air as vegetables were being prepared and fires started at 8 am for the Feasting for Change day in Snaw-naw-as, Nanoose community on August 12, 2009. The community members, lead by Vanessa Bob (the Community Program Manager) and the Feasting for Change working group members had been planning for a couple of months to host a Feasting for Change event.

Two main organizers for the day were the Youth workers, Doug and Hawk. I spoke with them to see what their thoughts on the day were.

"Awesome" was the word Doug used to describe every part of the day! "It was so nice to have the families and friends together and having good times around our food". Hawk added "It was a day about culture. Everything we did was about our culture..."

I asked the guys what their favourite part of the day was...

Doug - "Eating the food, fish and crab and the raw oyster's too"
Hawk - "Eating the crab for sure. Only about 2 of my friends eat seafood.... but that day, all of them were eating seafood it was so great to see!"

The community members all got together to put together the pit cook. It was amazing! Both youth and elders had jobs in the line for putting together the pit. Those who were not directly in the "line-up" helped support by watching and helping wherever they could. It was beautiful to hear the voice of Della Rice Sylvester throughout the day with her beautiful songs of prayer and thanks.

After the Pit was covered, we had the opportunity to take part in a Nature Walk with a truly knowledgeable community member, Jim Cook. Hawk mentioned that "we haven't done a Nature Walk in a long time.... it was interesting and we learned some new skills". There was a beautiful exchange of knowledge between both elders and youth and knowledge keepers in the group about different plants and berries. "Awesome" was how Doug described it!

Then came the exciting event of the day the "Fear Factor"! The idea was to offer traditional foods, some raw, some cooked, including salmon, octopus, oysters and crab to those that signed up. The winner was the first to finish their plate with nothing left in their mouth, and they would win a Nintendo Wii! The sign up was incredible; 18 people! It was a very close match "Our own Youth Leader, Doug was the winner!" Hawk mentioned that the "participation was so good that day".

After the pit was uncovered by the help of many hands, we moved to the hall where a Feast was definitely awaiting! There were crabs and salmon - cooked a few different ways, beautiful vegetables from the pit, salads, Debbies famous fry bread, Blackberry sauce (this came from blackberries picked by Doug and Hawk and the little ones from the daycare), and corn. Hawk mentioned that "people don't really get together a lot anymore, as a community, but everyone was together that day".

There was such a sense of pride and community in within the smiles of those that were at that dinner. One of the effects of the day was summed up by Hawk : "It makes me want to have my own garden, growing your own food instead of buying it from a store. Like peas, I didn't think I liked peas because I only had the ones from the store, but I LOVE the ones from the garden!".

Feasting for Change Working Group Meetings

2009-07-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

Everyone Welcome

On the First Monday of Every month the Feasting for Change group has a 2 hour meeting to share, discuss and explore what is happening the the communities around food. The meeting is held at the Victoria Native Friendship Centre from 2-4 on the First Mondays of each month. The summer months have caused us to be flexible as many stat holidays happen on those days.

We come together and talk about ideas, funding and opportunities. At our last meeting we talked about some exciting new ideas like celebrating the Gorge water way education centre with a feast and pit cook lead by Earl Claxton JR and his wonderful students Raven, Josh and Thomas. We also make teas from dried medinices and plants we collected from our trip to Quadra. It was wonderful.

We are having a special September meeting on the 14th from 1-4 at the VNFC and great supported and visionary Danella Parks from Vancity is coming to chat with us about Social Enterprise and how viewing community work from this lens can help support communities in a great way. Anyone welcome just let us know.

Each meeting, Carrie Pollard the HEAL worker and kitchen coordinator for the friendship centre makes us some healthy local goodies.

For more information about Carrie's HEAL - Healthy Eating, Active Living Program contact her at 230-384-3211.

For Feasting meetings 250-370-8258 and ask for Fiona

Quadra Island Retreat and Harvesting Event

2009-07-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

On July 19th and July 20th some of the members of the Feasting for Change working group came together on a road trip to Tsa-Kwa-Luten Lodge on Quadra Island. http://www.capemudgeresort.bc.ca/. There were 10 of us. Some from the Scianew First Nation, Tsawout, Pauquachin and an Elder from the Tsartlip Nation.

Elder Anna Spahan has always been encouraging us to take a trip there to see how amazing the area is and help all of us to connect to nature. The Wai Kai First Nation was contacted to see if we could visit their territory and collect some medicines.

We arrived at around 3 pm and settled into our rooms to relax in the amazing view for a few hours. Some of us were wading in the ocean, others in the hot tub and more of us in the great swinging chair or chairs over looking the ocean.

We then had a delicious dinner highlighting many traditional foods. Ie cedar planked salmon, crab, bison steak, mixed fish stir fry and fry bread and berries for dessert.

We then walked around the lodge and Anna Spahan and John Bradley Williams led us in a plant walk. John and Leanne from the local Nation also joined us to share their wisdom and stories.

The next morning we woke and ate together and shared stories. We then gathered our things and went out to pick mullein, native blackberry, salmonberry, thimbleberry leaves and much more.

We are currently drying the tea and making small packages of tea for gifts at our feasts and to sell to help with the cost of food at events.

It was so wonderful to get away together and create memories and great friendships.

Camus Harvest with UVIC

2009-07-27T14:28:00.002-07:00

For the week of July 13th-17th Kate Proctor a Uvic Masters Student invited some of us out to help harvest Camus.

Many of the working group members made it up to Duncan to be involved in this great experience.

Kate emailed us some of her knowledge: Camas bulbs were traditionally harvested by First Nations Peoples on Vancouver Island and other places throughout western North America in
great quantities for food. The Garry oak meadows, where camas grows, were actively managed to increase the productivity of camas and to maintain a landscape that supported other useful plants and animals. After the arrival of European settlers in North America, traditional
landscape management and harvesting of camas and other culturally important plants by First Nations communities has been greatly reduced and in many cases completely prevented.

This camas harvest was part of her graduate research at the University of Victoria. The intention of her research is to better understand how harvesting camas bulbs and burning post-harvest affects the camas and other plants in the Garry oak meadow communities of today. A portion of he camas bulbs harvested will be replanted on the preserve this fall, in efforts to expand camas populations. The rest of the camas will be cooked in a community pit-cook at the reserve date TBA. To find out more contact Kate at: Kate Proctor [kproctor@uvic.ca]
(250) 480-1119.

Pauquachin Days

2009-07-27T14:28:00.001-07:00

On July 10th the Pauquachin First Nation came together for the 2nd Annual Pauquachin Days.

The Feasting for Change group help support and link the community to John Bradley Williams and Earl Claxton Jr fro Tsawout to help them to a Pit Cook. The day was a huge success.

Enjoy some of the pictures!

Snitcel Community Potluck

2009-07-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

On Saturaday June 27th, in Snitcel a sacred place for the people of Saanich we gathered to celebrate. Snitcel is commonly known as Todd Inlet and is the place of the Blue Grouse. John Bradley Williams and Earl Claxton Jr have been working hard for many years to restore and preserve this part of thier traditional territory.

John Bradley asked to work with the Feasting for Change group to bring people out to this area to feast, learn and celebrate this wonderful place. He wanted this event to focus on food and the cultural food of all nationalities. People shared their salmon, local strawberries, german potatoes, homemade bread and jams, salads, eggs and many other favorite foods.

Over 60 people came and shared the day with us. We started the event with John Bradley guiding us in putting his first pit together. Many of the young people helped gather the fern and the salah for the pit. We packed root veggies, onions and fish into the pit. John Bradley then guided the group (20 people) on a nature walk.

Earl Claxton Jr shared with us his skills and knowledge around a salmon bbq. He showed us how to cut the fish, place it on the cooking sticks and how to bbq them slowly.

The day was full of stories, sharing and learning. HIWSKE

3rd Tsawout Seafood Festival

2009-07-27T14:04:00.001-07:00

On June 7th 2009 the Tsawout First Nation celebrated their 3rd Annual Seafood Festival. The community joined forces to bring people together to celebrate their land, food and culture. The Feasting for Change working group were all invited to attend and share. The Vancity funding we have supported the pit cook. We also took an active role in helping put the pit cook together.

The celebration took place at TIXEN (Cordova Spit), it has been a very special place to the people for many generations. It is a place used for clam digging, crabbing, fishing, water sports, family gatherings, duck hunting, and medicinal plant gathering. TIXEN also acts as a home to a variety of rare plant and animal species – many of which are at risk in British Columbia. This type of Sand Dune ecosystem is very rare. Over 75% of all dune ecosystems remaining on eastern Vancouver Island can be found right here at TIXEN and along Island View Beach.

Coastal dune ecosystems are very fragile places. These areas are easily destroyed if not treated with respect. Tsawout is making efforts to protect the spit by placing cedar fencing so that 4x4’s vehicles stay off the area.

Seafood Festival Celebration Activities

· Salmon Ceremony (Giving thanks to XALS the Creator for the first salmon of the season)
· Traditional Pit Cook
· BBQ Salmon
· Sharing of variety of traditional seafood: crab, sea urchins, oysters, prawns, mussels
· Guided walks: medicinal plants, and native plants
· Clean up Crew to the spit.
· Talks about sea life, birds, animals in and around TIXEN and the Saanichton Bay.

RESPECTING THE LAND
The Tsawout Community thanked everyone celebrating this special place.

'By working together and learning about the land we can conserve this ecosystem for generations to come.'

A quote from their invitation read:

As John Elliot Sr. wisely said:
“We must all learn to follow the ways of our ancestors. If we bring back a deep respect for nature we can be an example to everyone and prevent our beautiful land from being destroyed”.

The main community contacts for this celebration are: Gwen Underwood or Dan Claxton at the Tsawout First Nation (250)652-9101.

Feasting For Change April and May

2009-07-27T13:51:00.000-07:00

The year has started off with great excitement and energy. Many people enjoyed the conference and felt full after sharing and being together.

On April 25th, the T'Sou-ke Nation hosted a pit cook and invited many people in the Sooke area to join them in celebrating their food. John Bradley Williams and Earl Claxton Jr from the Tsawout First Nation travelled to T'Sou-ke to guide the pit cook and helped this day be a success.

Willow Dodge is the HEAL - healthy eating, active living Coordinator for the T'Sou-ke Nation and she helped organized this event.

Delicous seafood was eaten and shared along with the root veggies and fish cooked in the pit.

On May 13th the Saanich Indian School Board put on thier Cultural Symposium which is a yearly event that brings people together around Language, Food, Land and Culture. A few of us were able to attend and it was amazing. Great Elders and Knowledge keepers shared their skills with the young people of the Tribal and Adult School. Well Done Everyone!

2nd Annual Traditional Foods Conference

2009-07-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

On April 17th and 18th, the Snuneymuxw First Nation in Nanaimo, BC hosted the 2nd Annual Conference on Traditional Foods of Vancouver Island First Nations. This event was supported by the Aboriginal Diabetes Initiative (Health Canada), Aboriginal Health (Vancouver Island Health Authority), BC Healthy Living Alliance, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the Vancouver Island University. For complete details go to: http://www.snuneymuxw.ca/snuneymuxw_gallery/seafood.htm

Over 250 people from over 30 Nations gathered to celebrate the traditional foods of Vancouver Island First Nations and to discuss and learn about the four pillars of Nutrition, Healing, Safety and Community.

Please see attached conference agenda for more details:

Day 1 of the gathering was held at the new Vancouver Island Conference Centre in downtown Nanaimo. The day’s events featured: presentations that focused on both science and traditional knowledge; song, dance and prayer; digital stories; a short documentary screening; public recognition to all the youth at the conference; and finally, closing with an Elder’s Circle with an open discussion. In the evening there was a traditional foods Feast and cultural evening of song and games (Lahal) hosted by Snuneymuxw First Nation in their beautiful Long House.

Day 2 of the gathering was held at the Snuneymuxw Community Kitchen & Longhouse. The day was set up as a Traditional Foods Fair and included a Pit Cook and bentwood box cooking demonstration, as well as a Traditional Foods Fear Factor competition between forty youth from all over Vancouver Island. This event was particularly successful at exposing the young people to their Traditional Foods in a fun, interactive and energetic way. Not only did day 2 engage the youth but it highlighted many of the key community champions who are working hard at improving the food, land and culture in their communities.

Overall, this two day gathering was a huge success and garnered plenty of enthusiasm for 2010’s Vancouver Island Traditional Foods Conference.

PICTURES - Visit the Traditional Foods of Vancouver Island First Nations Flickr group. If you would like to join this group, click on the following link (or copy and paste it into your web browser). Then you can see what this group is all about!

http://www.flickr.com/welcome/34182600/270885/

Submitted by:
Kate Kittredge
Traditional Foods Conference Coordinator
Healthy Community Development ConsultantSuite B 1351 Vining St., Victoria, BC V8R 1P5 Canada(office) 778.430.1243 l (cell) 250.213.6695 l (fax) 778.430.0621(email) mailto:kkittredge@shaw.ca

Feasting for Change, Our Digital Story

2009-07-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

Check out our Digital Story at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF7PNeSoGV0

Feasting For Change Celebrating 2008-2009

2009-07-27T13:27:00.001-07:00

FEASTING FOR CHANGE:
RECONNECTING TO FOOD, LAND AND CULTURE

The Feasting For Change Project is a broadly representative group composed of interested parties who are working collaboratively to support Aboriginal Communities in South Vancouver Island to enhance their food sovereignty.

Food Sovereignty is the state of being in which ‘all community residents obtain a safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally adequate diet through a sustainable food system that maximizes community self reliance and social justice.’ Hamm and Bellows 2002

Purpose: The purpose of the Feasting for Change: Reconnecting to Food, Land and Culture Project is to bring Aboriginal Peoples in South Vancouver Island together around Traditional Food Feasts to discuss food security and food sovereignty in their communities. The goal is to identify community-specific issues around food and inspire action to address these issues.

Funding: The Feasting for Change project has generously been funded by Vancity Sustainability Group.

The Spark:
The Aboriginal Health Diabetes team makes their way to the door of one of the local Elders who has diabetes. As he opens the door he softly gestures to the team as he points out past the fields to the bay in front of his house. He says, “You see this? When I was growing up, this was my grocery store.” They pause to listen as he passionately tells of a time “before diabetes…when diabetes prevention was woven into the fabric of everyday life.” He talks about the challenge of managing this disease and how it continues to affect so many people in his community.

Not surprisingly, this was not the first time the team had heard such a story - a story about a time when activity and healthy living was a part of the Aboriginal culture. Over the years of visiting Aboriginal people in their homes, attending sharing circles, and listening to their stories, they began to identify a common theme—the connection between food, culture, and healthy living. What they saw was the hope that this way of life could be revitalized, and in doing so, the epidemic of diabetes could be brought under control.

Below are some examples of how this program has evolved.

Event 1: In May (2007) invited representatives from each First Nation took part in a Feast to be held at the T’Sou-ke First Nation. They shared crab, halibut and other traditional foods as they came together to discuss what could be done to inspire people to take charge of their health, culture, and community. The T’Sou-ke hall was packed with families and the energy was palpable—people were excited and hopeful for a healthier, more vibrant future. Elders and young-ones alike shared their stories and ideas about what it would take to “bring people together” and “get back to the basics” by utilizing traditional knowledge and expertise within the community. As the ideas percolated it was clear that the knowledge to accomplish this already exists. What emerged from this gathering was the innovative idea of having these Feasts in each community and inviting select people from other communities.

Event 2: On July 6th and 9th (2007) the Pauquachin First Nation hosted the 2nd community event. A plant/berry gathering day and a huge community feast were the focus. People shared stories and skills throughout the two days. Lucia Bartleman and Joyce Underwood took us throughout the Pauquachin Nation looking at plants and telling stories. Elder Elmer Henry taught us how to harvest and dig for clams, how to cut and prepare fish and how to cook fish heads. People ages 1-90 years shared fish heads, baked fish, clam chowder, fresh berry crumble and a traditional tea made by a local Elder.

The Pauquachin Feast also sparked some positive energy for change. This community is planning to serve more traditional foods at their weekly community lunches, have planned a community fish cleaning and canning day, and have organized some berry picking events to store up for the winter.

Event 3: On Aug 24th (2007) the Tsawout Community hosted an amazing Seafood Festival showcasing a traditional pit cook, crab and salmon feast, sea urchins and a salmon ceremony. The festival organizer Dan and Belinda Claxton wanted to highlight and showcase the traditional food practices to help encourage community members to use their traditional land and ocean.

Event 4: On Oct 26th and Oct 27th (2007) the Songhees community hosted a feast at the Pauquachin Nation. This event was a collaboration with UVic and Dr. Nancy Turner. On the Friday Nancy took her 60 students and other interested people out to T’Sou-ke to collect materials for the pit cook, plant identification and weaving activities. On the Saturday Cheryl Bryce and Nancy shared their knowledge with her 60 UVic students and the 50 community members for a daylong event of learning, feasting and friendship. We feasted on crab and halibut donated by T’Sou-ke Nation, salmon from the Songhees Health Counselor Frank George, smoked salmon caught through gaffing at Goldstream, salmon chowder make by Joan Henry and delicious variety of veggies cooked in the pit that were donated by UVic.

Events 5 & 6: On January 25th and 28th (2008) the T’Sou-ke Nation and Pauquachin Nation hosted feasts in honour of invited guest Dawn Morrison of the Secwepemc Territory. Dawn is the coordinator of the Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty in BC. Dawn has been asked by the Public Health Association of BC to travel to many Aboriginal communities in BC to provide information around food sovereignty and find out what are the concerns and hopes around food. The information from these meetings will be summarized in a report. This goal of this report is to document the concerns of the communities, raise the awareness of decision makers and the highlight the great THREAT to the food supply. The report will also share the ideas, plans and initiatives for change.

Event 7: On March 12th(2008) The Pacheedaht First Nation and the local school came together to harvest seafood down at Botanical Beach and enjoy a community Feast. We partnered with the community and the Uvic/DFO research project. This research project focused on dietary intakes of seafood and risk of contamination. Elder Jimmy Chester from Dididat lead the day with his singing, stories, skills and language. He taught all of us the traditional names for mussels, sea eggs, rock stickers and gooseneck barnacles. We feasted all day and shared stories and skills.

Event 8: On May 4th (2008) - The Scianew First Nation drew on the knowledge of one of their community members, ethnobotanist and professor Dr. Pakki Chipps. Pakki taught local ethnobotony at the University of Victoria and around the local area. She led us on a traditional pit cook and plant identification walk. Pakki asked the children aged 3-12 to gather salal and ferns for the pit. It was their first time out gathering these plants. While the food cooked in the pit we drank tea, peeled salmon berry shoots and shared stories. Then the 25 participants were taken up into the woods to talk about nature and our relationship with plants. Henry Chipps barbequed the salmon and we opened the pit cook of root veggies, clams and salmon and ate on local cabbage leaves. It was a spectacular day.

Event 9: On May 23rd (2008) - The Pacheedaht First Nation hosted a pit cook on their beautiful beach. With the guidance of Pakki Chipps and Henry Chipps we dug a pit and filled it full of local root veggies and mussels harvested by community members at Botanical Beach. Community members Nadine, Dana, Jenny, Denise and Dave all share their stories and knowledge. We also feasted on rock stickers, gooseneck barnacles, crab, barbequed salmon and traditional tea. We spent the long and warm day feasting with the community members and children on the beach. The children were challenging all of us for a swim in the ocean. This method of Pit Cooking was shared by an Elder Ida Jones from Pacheedaht. It was much appreciated to have this food cooking method performed back in the community.

Event 10: On May 27th (2008) – Earl Claxton Jr. and JB Williams from Seachange toured the Feasting Group around the Gowland Todd Park which is traditional territory. They shared traditional stories and knowledge about the local environment and edible plants.

Event 11: On June 7th (2008) - The Tsawout First Nation hosted their annual Seafood festival packed with over 300 people. There were two beach pit cooks, bannock making events on the beach and glorious seafood to sample, including sea urchin, sea eggs, crab, mussels, scallops, clams, and salmon. There was a traditional plant walk led by local knowledge keeper Earl Claxton Jr. and renowned ethnobotanist, Dr. Nancy Turner. Elders and other community members shared stories about their experiences with traditional foods, feasts and gatherings. This was a very special all-day event and many thanks to Dan Claxton and Tsawout Band and Health Council.

Event 12: Oct 18th – The Pauquachin First Nation and Uvic partnered again for a day of feasting and sharing. Over 80 people spent the day learning how to do a pit cook, drinking teas, cooking and playing together. Uvic Grad student Abe Llyod coordinated the pit cook and shared his passion for teaching and for traditional cooking methods with the community members. We feasting on canned salmon donated by Lucia Bartleman and fish head soup for lunch. For dinner we had crab, fish heads and the food from the pit. The pit was filled with root vegetables, fish heads and seasoned deer meat. The seasoned deer meat was gifted and prepared by Bev Williams. The Elders shared and feasting with the children of Pauquachin.

Event 13: November 5th Feedback and Visioning Feast – Over 25 community leaders and champions joined together to reflect on the year and plan for the upcoming years events. The Urban HEAL champion Carrie Pollard cooked for us all day. Our bellies and souls were full of her good medicine. Elder Shirley Alphonse opened and closed the day with a inspiring and movitating prayers. The people voiced their desire for continued feasts in each community with a youth focus. They are hoping for more events that link the youths to their elders. The vision for a youth/elder camp was one big wish.

Event 14: Nov 20th Urban Feast – Victoria Native Friendship Centre joined forces to celebrate the births of all the new babies in the community and to Feast. This was a huge success, over 300 people from newborns to Elders were in attendance. The babies were welcomed into the community and then an offering of crab, fish chowder, deer stew, bread, berry salad and fruit salad was shared. All programs and services offered from the Centre we around the room and there to answer questions and share services. Many thanks to Carrie Pollard and Leslie McGarry.

The expected outcomes of this project are many, below are the main ones:

Ø Increased Community Capacity Building
Ø Knowledge Translation from Elders to Youth, and between Communities.
Ø Cultural Pride and Enhanced Self Esteem
Ø Sustained Energy, Ideas and Knowledge to propel further projects.
Ø Linking communities.