“We are the land and the land is us,” explains Talaysay Campo, born and raised in the Squamish and Sechelt cultures of Canada’s First Nations.
asserted
Campo → explain → Nations
On Campo’s Talking Trees tour in Vancouver’s Stanley Park, the city’s vast green 400-hectare lung, we are introduced to the plants, medicines and technologies of her people.
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we → introduce → people
First, we meet the vine maple tree.
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we → meet → tree
“It doesn’t know personal space – it likes to branch out and reach for that sunshine,” Talaysay says.
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Talaysay → know → sunshine
Its wood is strong but flexible so it is useful for constructing shelters.
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it → construct → shelters
If the tree arched in shape, then that shape would form the frame for a shelter.
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shape → arch → shelter
Next, we meet the mighty Douglas fir, which soars into the sky with bark so thick it resists forest fires but, ironically, there’s an element in its sap that helps start fires, and it was tapped for just that purpose.
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it → meet → purpose
Deeper into the forest we find salmonberries, huckleberries and more.
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we → find → salmonberries
“This is one of the first laws we learn: you never take the first berry, and you never take the last berry,” says Talaysay.
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Talaysay → learn → berry
“My ancestors dried the berries so they had fruit all year round.
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they → dry → fruit
Our four-legged friends don’t have that privilege, so for the first two weeks, when everything is in bloom, we save berries for our relatives, the animals.
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we → have → relatives
That way, they get the berries they’ve been waiting two seasons for.
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they → get → berries
“The reason we don’t take the last berries is a teaching from the bear, which never completely strips a berry bush.
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which → take → bush
It gives the final berries on the branches the opportunity to fall back into the earth and regenerate.”
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It → give → earth
“We use it from cradle to grave.”
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We → use → grave
There are rules for the bark harvest: “If you can reach around the tree and touch your hands, move on because the tree is too small.
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tree → be → hands
When you find a tree old enough, measure two hand widths, make a cut and pull the bark away.
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you → find → bark
That might strip as much as five metres, it will stop where the tree wants it to stop.”
uncertain
it → strip → metres
While the First Canadians would harvest from the forest, here’s where the locals harvest their fresh food today.
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harvest → harvest → food
“The market is who we are,” says my Vancouver Foodie tour guide Sandra Trotter.
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guide → say → ?
“Here’s the best of Vancouver – food, wine and the outdoors.
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best → ’ → Vancouver
We aim for this to be the world’s best market.”
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this → aim → ?
The morning is sunny and the crowds are building.
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crowds → build → ?
There are no franchise outlets on the island and most of the produce we taste on this tour with Trotter is local and artisan.
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we → be → Trotter
The Benton Brothers make their small-batch cheese from the milk that comes in from the Okanagan region.
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that → make → region
Oyama Sausage makes its meaty creations from five generations of charcutiers.
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Sausage → make → charcutiers
And the morsels of wild-caught Canadian salmon we try at Longliner Seafoods (the maple candy salmon is what I’m going back for) is another story of the generations.
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I → catch → generations
Jim Moorehead, himself a longline fisher, founded the business in the late 1970s and was one of the market’s original tenants.
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Moorehead → found → tenants
Back then, the island was mainly used for warehousing and as a base for the local fishing fleet.
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island → use → fleet
Beyond the market, you’ll find those warehouses have been transformed into studios for artists and artisans – painters, jewellers, glassblowers, even broom makers.
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warehouses → find → artists
And before it hosted those warehouses, the island’s sandbars were a food source for the First Canadians.
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sandbars → host → Canadians
And so it continues.
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it → continue → ?
The Talking Trees tour costs from $C80 ($81) for adults and runs for 90-minutes.
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tour → cost → minutes
Vancouver Foodie Tours’ Granville Island tour costs from $C129 ($130) for adults and runs for two hours.
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tour → cost → hours
Fairmont Vancouver Waterfront partners with Talaysay Tours to offer packages that include tours and accommodation.
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that → partner → tours
Air New Zealand flies daily to Vancouver via Auckland.
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Zealand → fly → Auckland
See talaysay.com; foodietours.ca; fairmont.com; airnewzealand.com.au
The writer was a guest of Destination British Columbia and Destination Vancouver and Air New Zealand.
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writer → see → Columbia
The Aporia
