Stand up for Great Bear Rainforest
I was motivated to do the STANDUP4GREATBEAR Expedition by two amazing women. One was Helen Clifton, a Gitga’at leader and elder from Hartley Bay, a community that I have been adopted into as a member of the Raven Clan. She expressed her great concern about the potential of Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Project, a proposed 1200km long oil pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat and then transportation of that petroleum on massive oil tankers that would move through the treacherous waters of the Douglas Channel and through the Great Bear Rainforest on it’s way to Asia across the dangerous Hecate Straight. Helen warned the youth and community members that if these tankers were allowed to be on our north coast, “We would lose our way of life, we would lose who we are as Gitga’at People. “ The second woman to inspire me was Dr. Riki Ott, a marine toxicologist, who I had recently watched in a documentary called The Black Wave: The Legacy of the Exxon Valdez. She represented the people of Cordova Bay in the 20-year legal battle with Exxon Valdez. She showed how the people and wildlife of Prince William Sound had been devastated by the spill and how, even to this day, is an ecosystem not fully recovered. I was looking at the past, present and maybe future and I was highly motivated to do something. So I decided to get on my standup paddleboard and travel along the proposed oil tanker route from Kitimat to Bella Bella, a distance of close to 400km. I was going to call it Standup4GreatBear. I have worked in the Great Bear Rainforest and with the First Nations people of Hartley Bay for over a decade. I have fished for salmon, and halibut, harvested crabs and dug for clams, I have watched generations of coastal people harvest food year round and provide for their families, friends and people they don’t know. I have spent intimate times with Grizzlies, Spirit Bears, Humpback Whales and Coastal Wolves. I have shared this place with many people from around the world. The rainforest and its people are special. It’s one of the few natural gems left in the world. It has helped to define who I am and it’s story runs through my blood. The purpose of Standup4GreatBear was to highlight the traditional food harvesting areas of the First Nations and the amazing wildlife of the Great Bear Rainforest. The journey became much more than that.
I began my journey in Kitimat on May 8th which with expedition members Brian Huntington and sister Shannon Hann. Dolores Pollard of the Haisla nation blessed us and sung a powerful and moving song that would carry us along our journey, one that we would find ourselves singing out loud at various times on our paddle. The song was titled, “We don’t need Enbridge on the Douglas.” The First Nations from each territory provided boat support for our expedition. They provided guidance and local knowledge. They were proud to show us precious food harvesting areas and sacred and spiritual cultural sites. After leaving the Haisla village of Kitamaat, we travelled south and stopped my adopted Giga’at village of Hartley Bay, the Kitasoo Xai Xais village of Klemtu and we finished our expedition with hundreds of supporters on the beach in Bella Bella. All four communities welcomed us with open and loving arms while children danced and community members sang to greet us. They were celebrating who they were and what they felt about their coastline. Over shared feasts of traditional foods they expressed to us how happy they were to see what we were doing. Everyone one, including Chiefs and matriarchs stood up in each community and said they were in full 100% support of what we were doing. They saw what was going on in the Gulf and expressed how sad they were but also expressed that something like this could never be allowed to happen on our coast. What we have is not for sale they expressed. Looking into their eyes and hearing their songs I knew what their lands and foods meant to them.
The Standup4Greatbear expedition was 11 days long. I paddled my board 10 days with an average of 35-40kms a day. We had one rest/weather day spent with whale researchers and friends Hermann and Janey at Cetacea Lab. I SUPed majestic fjords, explored windswept beaches and travelled to remote outer islands. I spent time on the proposed tanker route with Killer Whales and Humpbacks Whales. Our shortest day was 6 hours and our longest day was 12 hours. The weather gave us a gift and allowed me to complete my itinerary and accomplish my goals. People along the way asked me if it the paddling was hard or if there were any challenges. My answer was always the same. When you are paddling for, and representing the people and wildlife of our amazing coastline, you feel like the most powerful person in the world, challenges seem small. The expedition was not a race or a feat of endurance; it was a special opportunity we had to hear the song of the coast and of the people. It’s a very powerful song, and one that we all can be part of.
My deepest thanks to team members Brian and Shannon, to the four First Nations’ communities, and to the people of the coast and everyone who supported me. The expedition is over but my Standup4GreatBear journey is just beginning.
Thanks to First Ascent for selecting me for the Be First Sponsorship Award and for committing to the big picture and helping me to bring awareness to our coast, it’s people and wildlife. Our health is directly related to the health of our oceans and lands.
Thanks as well to sponsors Surftech, Kialoa, Outdoor Research, Brackendale Bean and Pacific Wild.