Nisga'a members find culture, connection and identity through Hoobiyee celebrations
The Nisga'a Nation kicked off a two-day event to mark their new year, known as Hoobiyee, at the PNE Forum on Friday.
More than 1,000 people joined in the festivities, featuring drumming, dancing, crafts and more.
The annual celebration marks the arrival of the first crescent moon and signals that a new harvest season is about to begin with eulachon fish returning to the Nass Valley, the traditional home of the Nisga'a in Northwestern B.C.
The Nisga'a Ts'amiks Vancouver Society is hosting the celebration, featuring the Ahousat Cultural Group, the Urban Heiltsuk Dance Group and the Nisga'a Tsamiks Vancouver Traditional Dancers among others. The free event is open to the public.
Denise Doolan, head of the Nisga'a Tsamiks Vancouver Traditional Dancers, was excited about it all.
"Hoobiyee is a time to celebrate and a time to reflect and pray for a good year, for a prosperous new year for everybody," Doolan said.
Denise Doolan, head of the Nisga'a Tsamiks Vancouver Traditional Dancers, leads fellow Nisga'a members in a dress rehearsal ahead of Friday's celebrations. (Shawn Foss/CBC News)
Preparing for the big day
Ahead of Hoobiyee, CBC News joined members of the Nisga'a Nation to see how they were preparing for the big day.
Inside of a room in East Vancouver, dancers took part in a full dress rehearsal.
Doolan, who has been dancing with the group on and off since the 1990s, admits there were some pre-performance jitters.
"It's nerve-racking at the beginning," Doolan said. "But once you're on the floor and having the power of so many drums coming together, it feels ecstatic."
More than 100 dancers are taking part in the Hoobiyee performance this year, she said.
Connecting with culture
While the dancing and the food are an integral part of Hoobiyee, for Nisga'a people living in B.C.'s urban centres, it also represents an opportunity to connect with their culture and maintain their identity, despite being far from their traditional homes.
Jerry Adams was invited to join the Hoobiyee dancing group by his daughters. However, he was reluctant at first.
"I think I was very shy of who I was, a Nisga'a. I wasn't able to speak my language. I was afraid to be with my people, said Adams.
"I felt I had no place in the world … And I think it was important to become a Nisga'a and find my identity that was lost for over 60 years."
Despite those initial fears, joining the group and the community helped Adams reclaim his culture.
"It feels really good to be part of that family again," he said.
Dancers from the Squamish Nation are pictured during the first day of the 2023 Hoobiyee hosted by the Nisga'a Tsamiks. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Elsewhere, among the crowd of dancers, was Tania Percival and her family. Percival moved to Vancouver in 2004. Participating in the Hoobiyee celebrations has allowed her to share traditions with her children
"It's important because it keeps our family together. It teaches my children and my new grand-baby our culture," she said.
"We get to participate in our culture and just keep our culture alive, even though we're not living in our home community."
Percival didn't grow up dancing at Hoobiyee celebrations, but she's filled with pride watching the younger generations embrace the practice.
It's a sentiment echoed by Adams. Watching young Nisga'a members dancing and drumming, seeing them display their regalia with pride, he observed how they feel no need to hide who they are.
"That's what Nisga'a is about. That they can grow up and not be ashamed of themselves. And that's what I lost and these kids are getting right away," said Adams.
The festivities will continue on Saturday at 10 a.m. and run until the closing remarks at 9:15 p.m.
