Feasting for Change Working Group Meetings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!