The rain poured in buckets onto Fort George Park on Friday but the kids were doing handstands in the torrent, smearing their face-paint designs into watery abstract art, and rocking their bodies to the live hiphop of aboriginal duo Mob Bounce.
They were there to celebrate their aboriginal ancestry on the very spot the Lheidli T'enneh based much of their age-old culture until expelled by colonial industrialism exactly 100 years ago.
Their gathering was called Touching The Earth and was organized by aboriginal education departments from across the city, primarily PGSS and its feeder schools, but others as well.
"It was an awesome experience, except for the rain," said 14-year-old Morgan Tinsley, who came with a contingent from Valemount. "It's great to see we've got a bunch of stuff here we can learn from, elders we can meet and hear their lessons, and ways we can get together."
"It has been an amazing day. I think everyone here can see the nations can work together as one, not separated," said Dillon Dawson, 18, who graduated in May and is enrolled now in hairdressing school in Prince George but wanted to volunteer to help the event succeed. He was a member of the PGSS drumming group, which is how he met aboriginal education worker Tessa Fraser, one of the main organizers of Touching The Earth.
"It's about the youth, and others too, seeing the culture and seeing the culture," said Fraser of this and the other self-celebrations the aboriginal students of the district have done this school year. "I think the kids are really getting that message and feeling good about their truths, their backgrounds, and where we can all go together. For this event there was a real focus on connecting youth with elders."
A former professional Las Vegas Elvis impersonator, Morris Bates, was on-site at the park. He is now an advocate in Vancouver who regularly takes at-risk and young people on tours of the downtown east side to demonstrate the life awaiting them if they say yes to drugs and alcohol and dangerous associates. It was a life he almost got swallowed by, but he pulled himself free to tell the tales.
Also on-hand was Metis jigger Beverly Lambert, bead and dreamcatcher makers, and elders working alongside Spruce City Wildlife Association members at the trout tank where kids could catch actual fish from the portable pond.
In the background, or right at the front row, depending on where you were in the park, MCs Heebz The Earthchild and Craigy Craig the Northwest Kid (NWK) busted rhymes overtop of 16-year-old DJ Lou (Leon Erickson). The duo is known as Mob Bounce from the Bulkley Valley, and they were giving the fast-rising Prince George/Houston-based DJ some stage time. They also called some local kids up on stage for some spontaneous soloing.
"It's all about the energy of the people," said Heebz. "This is all about unity. We are all from the human race."
DJ Lou's father was glad to see his boy get some productive affirmation for his music mixing talents, especially from the likes of Mob Bounce.
"They are not into smoking or drinking, they present a positive message in their music and they live that way," he said.
This is a cultural movement being passed down to the youngest of the new aboriginal generation, said Fraser, and there is more to come.
