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This is the story of our Tribal Journey (1997)

Our goal was to travel to Victoria. A few years ago we set out for the 94 Commonwealth games, now we pull our canoes for the opening of the 1997 North American Indigenous Games. Some of us have made this journey before, but for others this is their first time. We set out on this journey together, a course our ancestors had travelled many years ago.

The Tribal Journey will take us through the traditional territories of our First Nations people. Every community will have an opportunity to exercise the discipline provided by our ancestors. Dictated by protocol we enter each territory with a request to disembark and refresh ourselves.

In some of the more remote coastal locations: "At the end of a day, after a long hard pull, we gathered around the fire to enjoy a hearty meal. The warmth of the campfire was an opportunity for us to gather in to a sacred cirle. This became a tradition throughout the journey, to rid ourselves of any ill feelings, towards ourselves or other pullers. When we faced any problems, we delt with them and left them behind."

"In the quiet moments, we had time to reflect ...
who we were, where we are going, and who we are now."

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