Venturing around the world to promote Capilano University to international students is just a typical day for Cristian Cano, Capilano University’s international recruitment manager, but this recruitment season was especially sweet.
Linda Epp, a member of the shíshálh (Sechelt) Nation, grew up thinking being Indigenous was a bad thing.
The 30-foot-long seaworthy hunting canoe, named “Skw’cháys” in the Squamish language, was carved from an 800-year-old red cedar from the Elaho Valley northwest of Whistler, BC.
For centuries, Indigenous knowledge, languages and cultures were seen as inferior.
When Shasha McArthur heard the news that Capilano University was commissioning a Coast Salish artist to carve a traditional canoe on campus, the film student knew she had to be involved.
The colourful light show inspired by the University’s brand palette started with a bang, then built to a sparkling finale.