Vancouver

One of the carvings in the First Nations Long House at UBC.

Wednesday in Vancouver turned out to be quite an auspicious day, for a while anyway. Corinne asked me if I was interested in going to a tribute to the indigenous Canadian actor Graham Greene. (You might know him from Thunderheart, Maverick, Dances With Wolves, Skins, The Green Mile, and other flicks). Well, who am I to say no? And saying yes meant I had to get off campus using public transport (bus and train), which has got to be a good thing. On the bus ride into town I talked to a woman who works at the Museum of Anthropology. She was cool, very friendly, and thought she had seen me on campus before. We spotted a couple of urban eagles. Well she spotted them and pointed them out, and I just got all drop-jawed. The eagle is such a majestic bird, and to see two of them high above the city skyline, indifferent to the drive time rush, was pretty special. My impromptu kaiawhina said eagles are seen now and then in the city, though most people aren't looking skyward so don't notice. She said they're a good omen, an affirmation that you're on the right path (or right bus, as the case may be).

Graham Greene was funny, quick-witted and, unfortunately, rude when it came time to press the flesh. He could have been feeling unwell or tired or whatever, but if that was the case he should have bowed out of the post-talk reception. Turning up only to completely ignore people who approached him to shake his hand and say a few words of appreciation (it was a tribute after all) was just plain rude in my book. Corinne was disappointed and kept apologising to me. I wasn't going to mention it, but I've had a couple of days to reflect, and figured he was comfortable saying derrogatory things about fellow-actors so in some ways I'm just following his example, at least that's what I'll tell myself so I can sleep tonight.

One of the fun things about using public transport, besides that strange feeling of never knowing for sure where you are, is that you get to parts of the city you might not otherwise. After the Graham Greene disappointment we headed off to the Indian Friendship Centre (kinda like the Chicago American Indian Centre, which kinda reminded me of Te Unga Waka) for West Coast night. Well, we literally got there for the last few beats of the drum. Never mind, on the bus ride there I got to see a seedier side of Vancouver - the drug-dealing, crack-head precint downtown, apparently the worst in the North America. I guess the police turn a blind eye, we even got to watch dude score his weed then sit down in a bus shelter and roll-up. The interesting thing is that the junkies and co. crowd around a gorgeous historical builing - the Carnegie Public Library. After the Friendship Centre we strolled up Commercial Road to the train station, via an Indian neighbourhood where the young ones milled around on the corner drinking (sound familiar?) and a hip, cafe culture neighbourhood. I guess I saw three or four different Vancouvers in one night. Not too different from Auckland then.

I've been working too. I hit the Koerner Library yesterday, and the Xwi7xwa (pronounced kui-wa) Library today. I had better luck at the Xwi7xwa and will go back again on Monday, checking out some records they've got on the British Columbia Indian Homemakers' Association. I like this by-law from their constitution: "Indian men will be allowed into the Society without voice or vote or holding office, but will be allowed to speak to members of the meeting with the consent of the meeting".

The Xwi7xwa Library is part of the Long House complex. The whole complex and grounds is a really nice, peaceful space. The library is in a circular building. This top photo is taken from outside the library looking up, and the next photo is looking back down to the library from above. It's hard to describe, and just as hard to find something to say about the spelling for Xwi7xwa.

It's a long weekend here, Canada Day on Tuesday. And it's definitely summer. I can tell by the strawbs and the cherries, the outdoor festivals and flip-flops (jandals). There are a lot of people around, on-campus and off. And those magnificent mountains in the background, constantly, missing nothing, and ocassionally sending out an eagle to take a closer look. This time next week I'll be home.

There's something unsettling or surreal about heroic mountains as permanent backdrop to Vancouver city, especially when the landscape I'm most familiar with is Auckland and Taitokerau.