Three children run up to the open window of Shlomish Jim’s truck, parked on a bank overlooking the Mamquam Blind Channel. The afternoon wind whips at the their hair as they hang onto the vehicle’s frame.
“Are you paddling today uncle,” five-year-old Mackenzie Billy asks.
“Yeah, nephew,” Shlomish answers. “Go get your gear.”
They dash around to the box and scramble over the tailgate to pick through lifejackets and paddles.
“My grandpa came and got me one day and said, ‘You’re pulling,’” Sholmish says, as he peers over the sun-kissed waterway. “I’ve been canoeing for 40 years.”
“Pulling” is no joke. A race can be up to eight miles long, taking a crew of eleven 45 minutes to complete. It’s cold, wet and your arms burn like they’ve been injected with thick, hot, tar.
“You’re sucking on wind,” Sholmish says.
In his 20s, Sholmish would be on the water by 10 a.m. ready to paddle a four-mile training course. After the paddle, the team would hit the ground, running an additional five miles.
“It keeps you fit and keeps you strong,” Shlomish says, adding that at 60, he runs two miles a day.
Now Shlomish and his wife Sesaxwalia, whose English name is Aggie Andrew, are passing on their passion to the next generation.
Every day during the summer, the couple can be found on a grassy field on the Stawamus Nation reserve. There, they wait for eager participants to arrive. The duo has done this for 14 years, donating their time to train more than 200 youth who have been a part of the Mount Cha-Ki — also known as Mount Garibaldi — Warriors team.
Like Shlomish, Sesaxwalia had little choice in the matter of learning to paddle. When she was 12 years old, a friend picked her up from home and told her she was going to get into the sport.
“It was awesome,” she recalls, as Shlomish opens a door to a long, wooden building, revealing five canoes inside.
With Crystal Lewis at the stern, the team lifts a baby-blue canoe out of the building. The three younger children that are still playing around Shlomish’s truck abandon their games to join in, with little Mackenzie barely able to balance the canoe on his shoulder. They swiftly carry it down to the water before flipping it and sliding it into the onslaught of relentless, wind-swept waves.
Lewis holds the canoe’s bow, as the younger paddlers climb in. Ten years ago, Lewis was recruited into the sport by Shlomish and Sesaxwalia. Now, the 18-year-old is one of the team’s star pullers. It’s a vigorous sport, she says. You have to be disciplined and learn to work as a team.
“Only the tough survive,” Lewis says, noting canoeing changed her life.
A lot of the crew come from broken homes, she says. The sport built her a new family. It gave her stability and taught Lewis how to become a role model within her community.
“I never thought I would be a super active person,” she says. “But if I can do this, I can do anything.”
The last of the team members climbs into the canoe. Afraid of getting his legs wet in the ice-cold water, Mackenzie sulks on shore amid the sea grass as the canoe pulls away. His sister, eight-year-old Mercedes Billy, drives her paddle into the water with the rest of the regular members. Shlomish’s voice battles with the wind as he shouts instructions to the team.
“Left, left, left. Come on, niece, you’re doing well.”
From the shore, Sesaxwalia watches the mix of generations paddle together. There’s pride in her eyes as the silhouette outlining young working with old moves along the water against the backdrop of the afternoon sun.
“This is our culture and spirituality,” Sexsawalia says.
Squamish Wind Fest Events
On Saturday, July 26, the Mt. Cha-Ki Warriors will share their passion with the community in Squamish’s newest festival — the Squamish Wind Festival. From Friday, July 25, to Sunday, July 27, the Squamish Arts Council (SAC) and the Squamish Yacht Club have teamed up to create a celebration of wind and water sports, while also showcasing the arts.
The weekend will be packed with buskers, kids’ crafts and, thanks to Between Shifts Theatre, some roaming pirates, SAC board member Michelle Neilson said.
It kicks off Friday night with a free concert in O’Siyam Pavilion Park. Local band Legally Obligated will take to the stage along with the Latin-, African- and Caribbean-infused Vancouver band The Boom Booms.
On Saturday the park and the Mamquam Blind Channel will serve as sites for paddling demonstrations and information booths on Squamish’s various water sports. The day starts with a free water and wind sports gear swap in the park. There will be a kids’ craft zone and buskers entertaining throughout the day, including Vancouver’s famous roaming brass band, The Carnival Band.
Sunday, July 27, is all about the wind. Local kiteboarding schools, including Aerial Kiteboarding and Vancouver Kiteboarding School, will have instructors at Nexen Beach giving people a chance to fly trainer kites — the first step to learning to kiteboard. At 2 p.m. at the Squamish Spit, the pros hit the water in a “Big Air” competition. It promises to be an action-packed event, drawing some of the nation’s best kiteboarders, including Canada’s reigning freestyle champion Sam Medysky, competition organizer Thor Kaze said.
The afternoon activities end with the arrival of outriggers from the Canadian Outrigger Association, who are racing from Porteau Cove to Nexen Beach. They’ll be welcomed with live music and a bonfire, a party open to the community.
Throughout the whole weekend sailboats will be battling it out on Howe Sound in the 35th anniversary of the Squamish Open Annual Regatta (SOAR).
The Squamish arts group Visuals is also hosting a three-day art exhibit themed on wind and water during the festival. The show includes everything from photographs to paintings and ceramics, exhibit organizer Freda Hoff said. The artists will be on hand to share their stories behind the pieces.
“It is kind of a new theme that people can work towards,” she says.
The Squamish Art Council (SAC) building in O’Siyam Pavilion Park will be open on Friday, July 25, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday, July 26 and 27, the show will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The festival’s free events aim to showcase both Squamish’s outdoor recreation amenities and its vibrant arts culture, Neilson said.
“The Squamish Arts Council is excited to explore ways of weaving arts and culture into sports and recreation events in our community. Squamish Wind serves as a great launching pad to start the process,” she said.
For more information visit www.squamishwindfestival.com.
