From the first paddle stroke to the final beat of the drum, National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations at Colwood’s Royal Roads University brought with it ceremony, culture and community connection.
Echoing the traditional cultural practices of the Lekwungen-speaking families and ancestors of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations – when families would travel by canoe and wait to be welcomed ashore by the community they were wishing to visit – the day began with a traditional canoe landing protocol practice on the shore of Esquimalt Lagoon led by Elder Butch Dick.
Among those requesting permission to come ashore and take part in the festivities were Royal Roads representatives, Victoria Police, West Shore RCMP, City of Colwood and Langford Mayor Scott Goodmanson.
With the ceremony complete, attention turned to the field and the main stage, where visitors were treated to more cultural presentations. While throughout the grounds there were opportunities to gather, play and learn.
The action returned to the water in the afternoon for the Swutth’tus (Max Henry Sr.) Canoe Challenge, where the team representing West Shore RCMP were competing as reigning champions – hoping for their third win in a row.
And with a little help from Goldstream Gazette staff, who joined them onboard, the RCMP cruised to victory, hoisting the coveted wooden paddle trophy yet again.
Also competing for West Shore RCMP was Char Hudson, who is visiting from Auckland, New Zealand.
Hudson is Maori and belongs to the Ngati Apa tribe. She works for New Zealand Police in the Maori responsiveness team as a senior sergeant.
With the support of a scholarship, Hudson has travelled to Canada to shadow and learn from other Indigenous policing teams, including West RCMP’s Indigenous Policing Unit.
As an Indigenous person from New Zealand, taking part in the action on the water has been a “home away from home,” said Hudson.
“My tribe are also water people, so this is very natural for me to be on the water,” she said. “It's my comfort and also where I feel my most ‘tau’, which is ‘settled’ (in Maori).”
The welcome ceremony was particularly moving for the antipodean visitor.
“We have very similar customs that we practice, and they are equally as important to us as they are here,” says Hudson.
“So it's really beautiful to partake in a cultural act that I understand and I absolutely respect, no matter where I go.”
A sense of familiarity followed Hudson throughout the event.
Like the relationships she builds and fosters in her role working with the Maori communtiy, she recognized the same spirit among the crowd at Royal Roads.
“I can see strong relationships with what we call ‘rangatahi’ (a Maori term referring to young people) … with the tribes that are here from this place and my colleagues in the policing divisions … I can see that those relationships are strong,” said Hudson.
It reminds her of a Maori expression “kanohi kitea,” which means “A face seen, is a presence known.”
The phrase speaks to the importance of meeting people face-to-face, and to also be a face recognized within a community and at important gatherings.
“And that's how we operate in our work group,” says Hudson. “And that's what I can see here: strong relationships, strengthened through connection.”
