It's not the tiny baskets or tree-sized canoes that stay with you after a visit to the new Squamish Lil'Wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, B.C. What lingers are the stories behind the stuff - and the storytellers.
This $30-million centre is staffed entirely by members of the neighbouring Squamish and Lil'Wat nations, all keen to share their unique perspective on aboriginal heritage. During a recent "story stop" in front of a glassed-in exhibit of ceremonial artifacts, for example, Squamish guide Deanna Lewis described her grandfather's prowess at nobbies, a little-known precursor to the game of lacrosse.
A residential-school survivor, Norman Lewis believed that it was dangerous to speak of his roots. But his granddaughter went to great effort to learn his stories before he died in 2000, and when the centre officially opens next Friday, she'll help keep his memory - and an ancient oral tradition - alive by talking freely about the past. This time with an international audience.
Squamish Lil'Wat Cultural Centre is located at 4584 Blackcomb Way in Whistler, B.C. Admission is $18. Exhibits are open daily from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 866-441-7522 or visit http://www.slcc.ca.
More National Stories
-Stop to admire the cedar doors that mark the entrance to the glass-walled Great Hall. The panel on the right was carved by Jody Broomfield (who designed one of the 2010 Olympic gold coins) and features a mythic Squamish welcome figure. The panel on the left portrays a more realistic scene - a bear at a river - carved by Lil'Wat artists Bruce Edmonds, Johnnie Abraham and Jonathan Joe. Also note the motif around both panels: a "Salish eye" symbolizing the watchful gaze of past and future generations, and a geometric pattern found on traditional Lil'Wat baskets.
-Renowned weavers, both the Squamish and Lil'Wat once used smaller versions of these intricately carved spindle whorls to make mountain goat wool for blankets, robes and rugs. Less than a decade ago, only a handful of weavers remained in the two nations. But thanks to the efforts of Squamish chief Janice George and her husband, Buddy Joseph, there are more than 120 Salish weavers now at work in the Squamish nation. Some of their woollen designs hang in the Great Hall.
-Listen for the drums: Every day small groups of Lil'Wat and Squamish performers showcase traditional music and dance here. These art forms were almost extinguished during the "assimilation" attempts of the last century, but youth programs are reviving dormant songs and dances.
-Squamish carver Ray Natrall researched designs in provincial archives before creating this ocean-going canoe - which includes images from a traditional story about an older brother who is transformed into a seaworthy vessel to save his siblings from drowning in rough water. But this vessel isn't just for display: It will be put to the test at the North American Indigenous Games on Vancouver Island next month.
-The guides here are proud of the museum - not so much for what it is but for what it might become. Currently, there are only a few historic pieces: arrowheads, old baskets, a ceremonial headdress. But now that the centre can properly protect artifacts, curators hope they will attract donations from the private collectors and international institutions that hold many of the most important Squamish and Lil'Wat cultural treasures. Until then, however, this gallery is worth a stop for modern examples of the robes worn by Squamish chief Joe Capilano and 10 other chiefs on their 1906 visit with King Edward VII.
-In the potlatch tradition, the Squamish and Lil'Wat offer gifts to their guests - in this case, DIY beaded necklaces and ornaments made from cedar strips in the centre's craft workshop. If you're not satisfied with your own handiwork, however, you can buy locally made native crafts in the well-stocked shop. And then admire your purchases in the adjacent café, where the nearby Four Seasons Hotel caters small meals using traditional indigenous ingredients such as wild boar and smoked salmon.
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