Canoe trip north to Bella Bella a spiritual journey

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The week-long "Qatuwas" festival was launched in Bella Bella recently, marking the end of a one-month journey for paddlers from 30 West Coast First Nations. From Seattle to Kitkatla, cedar canoes converged on the mid-coast Heiltsuk village in the "Gathering of People".

The "Kahulh", crafted last year for the Qatuwas by Squamish lead carver Cedric Billy, was given a ceremonial launch in West Vancouver. Three days earlier, the Quileute's "Kwa I Ya", a 26-foot red cedar canoe carved 65 years ago for sealing and whaling, had left Washington State on the journey north.

Moments before the 45 foot Kahalh hit the water, Wes Nahanee reflected on the 500 kilometre journey ahead.

"I'm excited this is something that needed to be started. But I'm sad to be leaving my family," Nahanee added, giving four-year old daughter Tanee a final hug. The Kahllh pushed off from Native land, Vancouver office towers in the background.

Along the way, the paddlers camped and were hosted in native villages up the coast.

"We felt together in our journey," said Nahanee. Canoes joined in from Victoria, Campbell River and Alert Bay on the journey north.

"It was incredible - we saw many deer, some mink and a bear on the beaches, and several eagles flew overhead," said Nahanee. One week out of Bella Bella, Nahanee and his crew pulled out their paddles, and drifted in awe. A 60-foot whale came into sight in the mist.

Farther north, the "Sp'ullans" set out from Kitkatla in Tsimshian territory for the three-day paddle south to Bella Bella.

"We lost all sense of time from the moment we left," said paddler and renowned artist Roy Henery Vickers. "We learned to paddle and think as one mind, and the experience kept coming."

The beach at Bella Bella was a sea of red and blue button blankets on June 27.

"All of our dreams and visions I've ever heard about the potlach came to life - in real life and real time," Vickers reflected.