New Aiyansh Part 1

Hey,

I am Colleen Bush, the Coordinator of Recreation Service, and I had the pleasure of going to New Aiyansh again this year with a few of my colleagues – Chris Kinch, Hong Trieu, Shane Williamson, and Aaron James.

I am here to share my travel diary with all of you today. However, before I get into my experience, let’s look into the background of New Aiyansh and the connection the YMCA of Northern BC has with it.

For those of you who do not know what New Aiyansh is, it is the capital of Nisga’a Nation; being one of the four Nisga’a communities. It is located approximately 100km northwest of Terrace, British Columbia. The natural beauty, the ideal location for exploring the Nisga’a lands, and the rich cultural history are the main attractions of New Aiyansh.

A Map:

How is the Y connected to New Aiyansh? It has been connected to the Nisga’a community since 1889 sharing the same principals; trust, transparency, respect for fellow man, respect for elders, honesty, healthy spirit, healthy mind and healthy body. The 2013 Junior All Native Basketball Tournament was hosted by the Nisga’a Nation, and we were one of the proud sponsors of the tournament.

Below is my travel diary for this trip.

Sunday, March 17:

Our trip started off well; having brunch at the Aspen in Smithers. After this, we continued onto Terrace for the rest of the evening. Sadly, we didn’t sing any travelling songs!

Monday, March 18:

Our first day heading out to New Aiyansh, and we were welcomed by a snowstorm. I could not see anything at all; it was all white. So in trying to drive my way through this snowstorm, I missed the turn for the Nisga'a Highway; ending up halfway to Rupert.  Once we turned around we made it successfully out to King Colith – hey, at least we didn’t end up in Prince Rupert before realizing that we missed the turn! At King Colith we were able to set our booth up on the upper floor and had a bird's eye view of the games.  We had only a few kids that day, but they stayed with us for the duration of our time there and together we invented a hopscotch slam dunk contest with 360's, under the leg dunks and alley-loops!

We were also able to take in the beautiful sunshine, which was greatly missed in Prince George, while eating our lunch by the ocean and attended the Grand Entrance Opening Ceremonies that evening. The Opening Ceremonies included traditional songs, dances and the marching in of all 46 teams who each represented their tribes through dance.

Tuesday, March 19:

Today we headed out to Canyon City where we explored the suspension bridge and walked a trail through the lava beds.  The sun was shining and all of the mountains were visible today.  It was beautiful!  You know, I think there is some rule that says we can’t have perfect days; there has to be some glitch that comes in the way of perfection. Why am I saying this? Well, we ran into a bit of a hiccup with doing our booth. But we were able to take in a few games of basketball from the boys division. Close to perfection – I’ll take it!

Here's the first part of my travel diary! Come back tomorrow to find out what happened for the rest of the week!

Bye!