June 14 through July 2, 2010
Terrace Campus, Kitlope Valley
The Anthropology and Geography courses begin
in the classroom and end with an amazing
field trip, with the Henaaksiala, to the
Kitlope Valley.
With Henaaksiala Elders, Chiefs, and Watchman
students travel to the first destination
Kemano townsite to tour the hydroelectric
Power House facility. The class is also introduced
to significant cultural sites like: Kemano
village, the Kawesas, the Kitlope Estuary
at the old village of Miskusa where the G'psgolox
Totem Pole stands.
The class then travels to the Watchman's
Cabin on the Kitlope River, and into Kitlope
Lake, once the summer home to the four village
clans. In the old growth forest, students
learn of the unique ecology and of the many
species endangered in other parts of BC,
of traditional ecological knowledge and plant
medical and food usages, and of the rich
cultural history and landscape. At night
students participate in a sharing circular
lead by Elders and Chiefs.
All the students who have participated in
this program have been deeply touched by
their experience in the Kitlope Valley, a
cultural journey to the largest intact temperate
coastal rainforest in the world.
