University longhouse welcome addition

Page R7

Before travelling to Vancouver for the opening of a native longhouse at the University of British Columbia, Cliff Porter had never set foot on a campus or known a university student.

And while the 19-year-old from Williams Lake was more interested in kicking around a beanbag ball than in the ceremony on May 25 to open the First Nations House of Learning, he was impressed enough to consider continuing his studies beyond high school.

Graduates in his tiny native community in central B.C., "They just get a job," he said in the shadow of the massive cedar-and-glass structure tucked in a wooded corner of the campus among the smells of fresh pine and sea air.

"I want to get ahead in life, I guess," the Grade 11 student said shyly, adding he is interested in a law degree.

Porter, on his first trip to Vancouver, was overwhelmed by the UBC campus.

"It's bigger than downtown Williams Lake," he said.

The longhouse, the first on a North American campus, is designed as cultural base for native students, to make it more appealing for those like Porter to take further studies.

"Then you'll be with your own people," he said.

The 2,000 square-metre building, which cost $4.9 million and was funded through private donations and a provincial grant, is designed after the traditional longhouses of the Coast Salish people.

Massive western red cedar logs support a copper roof that sweeps up at both ends of the 106-metre long building to resemble the wings of a great eagle.

A separate building resembling an Interior Salish pit house will house a library stocking information on Canada's aboriginals, much of it unpublished materials from natives. Facilities include a daycare, seminar rooms for high school. students and public meeting hall.

The centre, surrounded by leafy deciduous trees and towering evergreens and

just a short walk from beaches on the Pacific Ocean, was designed with input from First Nation students, staff and elders.

About 2,000 people attended the opening ceremony, which included performances by dancers in brightly colored dress and a traditional feast of barbecued salmon and deer, wild spinach and wild rice salads, clam fritters and bannock.

Among the speakers was Alfred Scow, a retired provincial court judge. As the university's first Native law graduate, Scow completed his degree without the benefit of a longhouse.

"There was a handful of us Indian students back then, during the 40s and 50s," he told the crowd from the cedar platform outside the longhouse's Great Hall. "We were a bit of a novelty."

"We had one foot in the Native community, and at times it was a bit uncomfortable positions to be in," he said. "These buildings tell Indian students today that they belong."

The longhouse continues a university policy of attracting more Natives, which began with the Native teacher's program in the 70s, through which more than 150 Natives have received their Bachelor of Education degree.

Dr. Verna Kirkness, the director of the House of Learning and the person credited as its driving force, said "We wanted the First Nations longhouse to share our cultures and knowledge with the university community and with the public at large."

Robin Woodhead, who this month became the first Native to graduate from UBC's medical school, explained that traditional Native longhouses, which served as homes for early Aboriginals, were built into long structures as families grew.

"I hope we will have to extend our longhouse as our Native family grows," said the 25-year-old member of the Kitsumkalum Nation from Prince Rupert in northern B.C. "I hope it will allow Native students to partake of all the UBC has to offer without having to give up our culture."