Sailors’ canoe journey

The Royal Canadian Navy canoe family embarks on a leg of the Pulling Together 2019 Canoe Journey at Willingdon Beach near Powell River. Photos by LS Brendan Gibson, MARPAC Imaging Services

Lt Cameron Park, HMCS Discovery ~

Since 2007, HMCS Discovery has supported the annual Pulling Together Canoe Journey by providing safety boats, planning and logistical support.

This year marked the first time Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) members crewed a canoe during the entire 10-day event.

The Pulling Together Canoe Journey is a coming together of groups representing First Nations communities, Indigenous youth groups, government agencies and community groups. The purpose of the journey is to deepen relationships and create cultural understanding and connections.

The involvement of the RCN in the Pulling Together Canoe Journey highlighted the commitment of the navy to foster respectful and meaningful relationships with First Nations’ communities.

Participants were exposed to a wide swath of First Nations language and culture by participating in cultural events, traditional teachings, and visiting culturally significant locations.

“I saw how big the journey was; how many different agencies were involved; how everybody was working together – literally pulling together – and having a great time,” Chief Petty Officer Second Class (CPO2) Rod Tulett, steersman of the RCN canoe, who visited the event four years ago. “At that point, I decided I wanted to get involved.”

CPO2 Tulett and the members of the RCN Pulling Together Canoe family were exposed to the language, teachings, and cultural traditions of the Tla’amin Nation, near Powell River, British Columbia.

Before the new canoe entered the water for the first time, community elders “brushed” it and its crew with cedar branches in a traditional ceremony designed to ensure safe travels. RCN members acknowledged the elders with gifts and by raising their hands to them and community members in a traditional gesture of thanks.

The continued involvement of members from HMCS Discovery and other RCN units in the Pulling Together Canoe Journey will continue to honour and value the importance of reconciliation in the years to come.