April
15
It
begins with the water. The light on the water and the white wash in
the ripples. I stare into it and wonder about this coast. I am a
landlocked soul. My feet and my spirit want to be grounded, like on
the earth- but I like to swim and play in this water where I've grown
up next to, and must be near to feel right.
This
coast has held spirits for me since we camped all along the big
Island's coast every year growing up, until I was 7. Otters, bears,
herons and whales all spoke their secrets to my child's mind. I would
take them home and visit them in my dreams, breathing underwater with
the whales, looking up through the green shafts of sunlight
glittering down into the shallow waters; floating in the sun holding
hands, diving down through kelp forests with the otters. I would
dream of forest floors that were dark, wet, and a million greens, and
curl up on the beds of moss in the pockets made by the turning tree
trunks; or wait in the broad tops of the trees for my mate, solemnly
watching the shoreline from above. In my sleep, I would embody
myself-as-them. These were the dreams that shaped my growing mind.
Connection with these animals, who made more sense to me than the
humans in my life. I wandered through trees often and alone when I
was able to get outside and explore. Not only because my brothers
didn't want to play with me, but also because that is how I wanted to
be.
The
idea of Bella Coola was given to me during a practicum information
session. The image of a misty green forest came into my mind and told
me to say yes, and to do what ever it took to get there. I imagined
the steep mountains rising out from the ocean's dark surfaces. I
could see the lichen, the shoreline, the rocky outcrops and soft
meadows. I could imagine the high alpine, and the plateaus of the
Chilcotin. The ferry ride there, where? I couldn't even place it on
my mind's map. My alert geographic mind and sense of direction took
offence to this. What I might be doing didn't seem to enter the
picture. Social work, of course. What did that look like here, in
this remote river valley of my dreams? My First Nations Studies
background helped me to create an image not as bleak as it might have
been before. With some research into the forward movement and
evolution of health services in this area in particular, innovations
that have not yet been adopted elsewhere showed themselves as
exciting and promising in their breadth of vision. An integration of
services where the federal (First Nations) and provincial (everybody
else) administrative bodies were working together to provide more
access to a wider range of professional helpers for everybody.
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