We awoke in the campsite in Hope to a wonderful breakfast provided by the band. National Chief Shawn Atleo arrived to wish us well and drummed and sang as we prepared to depart. This was a huge honour and that I am very thankful for.
The river was beautifully calm and warm. Thank you Dave Wooldridge for the Canoes!
There were about sixty of us in 5 voyager canoes and several smaller vessels. There was drumming and singing between the canoes. We saw salmon leaping.
Fraser River Rafts came with us in case any needed rescue and they pointed like this with their paddles to steer us away from trouble.
The Skwah First Nations invited us to a dinner and to spend the night on their territory
We arrived at sunset as a near full moon was rising.
And they drummed us in:
One hour after we left on this journey the BC salmon farmers put our a press release
"BC's salmon farms: well-managed and sustainable"
All I have to say is prove it. Release all your disease information from all our salmon feedlots that are polluting the waters that the Fraser sockeye swim through for the past 18 years when the Fraser Sockeye decline began. And make sure you include 2008 so we can see what was different that year that we got back all these salmon.
The historic journey continues. Martin Luther King and Gandhi showed what to do when the rights of people are taken away. You gather peacefully and powerfully and say "No More." We the indigenous and neo-indigenous people of British Columbia have the right to keep wild salmon, to protect our communities and to look out for our future.
Join us, meet us when we arrive in Vancouver on October 25 at 9 am at Vanier Park to walk to the Cohen Commission to support Justice Cohen in his very difficult investigation into what is happening with the Fraser sockeye and to tell him that we are watching.