Harmony Arts Festival, Indigenous Feast at Ambleside Landing, Tuesday, Aug. 7, 6 p.m. Tickets: $90 plus tax.
“When the tide goes out the table is set,” says Latash-Maurice Nahanee, quoting a traditional First Nations saying.
A life-long learner and practitioner of Squamish culture, Nahanee is organizing an Indigenous Art Showcase and Indigenous Feast for this year’s Harmony Arts Festival Aug. 3-12.
The work of nine First Nations artists will be on view throughout the festival while an inaugural Indigenous Feast of seafood dishes, prepared by Vancouver’s Salmon n’ Bannock restaurant will take place on Aug. 7, at Ambleside Landing.
The setting is appropriate as traditional First Nations cultures were very familiar with the area and the bounty that was once available.
Burrard Inlet was ringed with clam gardens while the creeks and rivers were full of salmon at different times of the year.
“Primarily in the late spring and throughout the summer and early fall,” says Nahanee. “Those were the most abundant harvest times for salmon.
“There were seasonal rounds to hunt, fish and gather food. Ambleside Beach was all forested and there was an abundance of deer. There were actually herds of moose and elk in (what is now) Stanley Park.”
Food is a gift from the Creator. Hunters and fishers would pray before the start of a season for success and at a feast they would bless the food, says Nahanee. “We believe that by doing that we’re not only providing nourishment for ourselves but the food then becomes our spiritual nourishment as well.”
The Squamish Nation have stories relating to the utilization of the resources of the sea. One of them is the legend of the salmon people.
“There was a time when no salmon came to our waters and the Squamish people often found themselves short of food,” says Nahanee. “They prayed for intervention and the Great Spirit sent the four Transformer brothers who helped the Squamish people find the land of the salmon people and they asked the salmon to come to our rivers. As a sign of respect we take the bones from the first salmon that we harvest each year and return them to the river to let the other salmon people know the Squamish people keep their word and take only the amount of food that they need for their survival and sustenance.”
The Indigenous Feast at Ambleside Landing will open with a blessing of the food and feature a live contemporary blues performance by Murray Porter, 2012 JUNO Award winner for Aboriginal Album of the Year for his Songs Lived & Life Played.
The feast itself is being presented in a curated menu by Inez Cook’s Salmon n’ Bannock. Her restaurant opened on West Broadway during the Winter Olympics in 2010 and has been at the forefront of First Nations cuisine ever since.
“We use all Indigenous ingredients,” says Cook. “Our first choice of shopping is First Nations, our second choice is local, our third choice is Canada and our last choice is Turtle Island, which is North America. All of our wines are Indigenous, as well.”
The Salmon n’ Bannock menu will include traditional barbecued sockeye salmon, poached halibut, steamed clams, smoked oolichans in a blanket, bannock with butter and/or syrup, bison berry ribs, corn on the cob, three sister salad (corn, zucchini, black beans, wild rice and mixed organic greens) and dessert.
Cook has commissioned artist Jamie Michaels to create special Bentwood boxes for the Harmony Arts event. Traditionally, Northwest Coast First Nations used the boxes (usually made out of red cedar) to steam clams. “We’re going to heat up stones put them in the bottom and then put some fresh herbs and water over them and then put the clams in there, close it and let them steam.”
The barbecued salmon was originally going to be prepared over an open fire but dry summer conditions will make that impossible.
“That kind of works against us but we’re still going to make it delicious,” says Cook. “We are super excited to be doing the inaugural Indigenous Feast on the traditional unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh.”
