The Big House

The North Vancouver School District has an Outdoor School in Paradise Valley, near Squamish, which is half way between Vancouver and Whistler. First Nation studies, and in particular, the Coastal Salish is part of the grade 4 curriculum in BC. They run a variety of programs for different classes, including The Big House program for grade 4.


On Monday morning students from my class began arriving at school in time for us to leave by bus at 8:00 am. We had a bit of drama, where one of the students arrived with eye drops and a report that she had been to the doctor the previous day with "pink eye". This is very contagious and there was some checking done as to whether she would be able to come with us. She had seen a doctor the previous day, had been using drops for about 24 hours, and her eyes didn't look too bad so she was given the OK to travel.

We left on time and travelled via the "Sea to Sky Highway" until we reached the turnoff to Paradise Valley just after Squamish. It was a beautiful sunny day and the views across Howe Sound were gorgeous. We met Kate, the Big House teacher, at about 9:15 am, and the bus drove us down the road to where we hopped off for the walk through the forest to the Big House. We walked for about an hour while Kate talked about the Squamish people and the forest we were in. She pointed out Devil's Club, and spoke about Stinging Nettles, two of the plants in the forest that can cause problems. We arrived at the Cheakamus River and listened to the Legend of Wountie before walking along the river dyke to the Big House.

We were greeted by the Siamshun, as head of the local tribe who welcomed us into the Big House. His sister, Swinomia, greeted the five families and gave everyone a Big House name. The names related to the animals and the environment, and also to the particular job that the family they had been allocated to performed. The five families were; Hunters and Fishers, Food Gatherers, Cedar Bark Workers, Wool Weavers, and Wood Workers.

Daniel was named "Wountie", the spirit protecting the Cheakamus River,
Bridget was named "Woman Warrior",
Paula was named "Whistling Swan", and
I was named "Thunderbird".

After the naming ceremony we had lunch of bannock and soup. The bannock is cooked by shaping a biscuit dough on the end of a stick, like a hot dog roll, and heating over hot coals. When it is cooked, it is taken off the stick and honey is poured into the hole where the stick was. It was delicious. The soup was cooked with hot rocks from the fire in bentwood boxes.

After lunch we broke off into our family groups for traditional activities.

The wood workers cut down a small tree and started to make wooden tools with adzes. They made wooden chisels for splitting cedar logs and also shaped cedar planks into canoe paddles. Their other task was to keep the house supplied with wood for the fires and kindling for starting the fires. The cedar bark workers pounded cedar bark until it was soft and pliable. They wove the strips into a small mat and tied it off with twine made from twisted cedar bark strands. The wool weavers cleaned mountain goat wool, brushed, carded, twisted and beagn to weave with the wool. They would have collected wool in the summer and used it to weave blankets. The food gatherers went into the forest and learnt how to identify edible foods, berries, and roots, and the hunters and fishers learnt how to identify signs of animal life in the forest. They also learnt how to set traps and built a rock weir on the river.

After these family activities we had some game time when we played Shinty, with Shinty sticks and a ball. It is similar to hockey, but the sticks are narrower. We also learnt how to play Dox-An-Eye.

Dinner was a salmon feast where all families had different parts to prepare. Two families cooked potatoes, two were responsible for carrots, and the hunters and fishers cooked the salmon. This was followed by desert of berries and ice cream. After dessert we listened to First Nation legends and danced to native songs. As it began to get dark we prepared to go on a night hike. While on the walk we heard a variety of bird talk and tried to find the resident bats. We walked on to the landing on the canoe pond and lay down to listen to another legend while looking into the night sky for bats. We still didn't see any so we walked around the lake and found them at the other end. It was dark by the time we got back.

All the "young workers" were made to visit the "Thunderbox" (The outhouse) before bed. We all slept in family groups on platforms in the Big House, and the lights went down at about 11:00 pm. Everyone must have been tired because the talking stopped pretty quickly. After being told of previous visits, I was prepared for being woken during the night because they were told that they had to have an elder accompany them to the Thunderbox during the night. I woke during the night to the sound of rain at about 1:30 am, and the next time I woke it was about 6:45 am.The house was still dark and quiet. I turned the lights on at about 7:00 am and began to light the fire so that we could get breakfast going. Heads started to poke out of their sleeping bags, and I wandered around asking the elders if they had needed to take anyone for a night walk. Not one! Most people had slept well.

We had breakfast of oatmeal, raisins and apple, and hot chocolate. Because the other class from Eastview were coming in this morning, Kate would meet them and I would take the group for the walk in the cedar forest. We saw evidence of culturally modified trees, where test strips of bark had been taken. We saw a tree that had rotted in the middle from the ground up, 600 year old crownless cedar, 1000 year old cedar which was the biggest tree in the forest and the second oldest. They all crawled through The Trummel, a fallen tree that had a rotted centre, and saw fraternal twins - a Sitka Spruce and a Cedar that were growing together, and also a clearing in which a scene from the film Eragon was filmed. It was quite magical walking through the wet forest with raindrops glistening on bright green leaves, dripping moss on trunks and branches, and the big black slugs all over the place, even though we got soaked. The bushes all through the forest, and on the edge of it had berries on them. They were green and growing, but it won't be long before they are red and black and ready for eating.

This forest is the hardware, pharmacy, and grocery store for the First Nations that lived here.

"Ensxi7pm"

(O- see- um)

Thank you in the Coastal Salish language

We had time to have another family group working session with the elders before having lunch, which was followed by a goodbye ceremony, at which I was presented with a cedar bark mat made by the students, and the journey back along the shores of Howe Sound back to Vancouver. Along the way we had great views of the Sound and the islands, as well as Stawamus Chief and Shannon Falls.

We arrived back at school on time, smelling very smoky, and in need of a good shower, but feeling all the better for the time spent in the outdoor classroom.