Eddie and Alert Bay

Eddie was peeling garlic with her manager Verna and coworker Dev when I wandered over and sat down for a rest after my walk through the ecological park. Garlic from their community garden at Alert Bay on Cormorant Island. Eddie has a great sense of humour; she soon coined the term "oh kangaroo!" Instead of "oh dear" 😂. Verna gave me a tour of the garden and Eddie insisted I have one of her perfect carrots, proudly demonstrating how she made them grow so straight. Eddie was born and raised at Alert Bay with her family including 6 siblings. She spent 6 months in the infamous residential school when she was 4 years old, but doesn't remember much of it. She has a lifelong love of soccer ⚽, and until this gardening job she mainly worked in health / counselling roles supporting other Kwakwaka'wakw people (see photos for proper spelling). We had a lovely chat for over an hour and I'm so grateful for the life stories she shared. She even took me to her house (as there's no restroom 🚺 at the garden) and then dropped me off to view the big house and visit the U'mista cultural centre, the key purpose of my visit to Alert Bay. It houses repatriated artefacts stolen from Kwakwaka'wakw people over 100 years ago - funky masks! And lots of other info about how first nations people have been mistreated and suffered as a result of colonisation. Familiar story 😬.
I'm so grateful for this day visit to Alert Bay 🙏.Читать далее