Originally published on Cortes Radio.ca, as part of the Deep Roots Initiative, Season Two.

In this episode Deep Roots producer  Jacqueline Mathieu takes us on a journey through one woman’s determination to reclaim a piece of her culture, through a coming of age ceremony and her son’s journey to claiming his identity.

“It about a 30 minute ride on the motorboat from Lund BC, at the tip of the Sunshine coast, to Squirrel Cove, on Cortes Island. As long as I can remember, we travelled that route to get back home. Home to my mom’s community of Klahoose. As children we would pile up in the little speedboat of my mom’s friend Andy, who would take us to Squirrel Cove for a fee of $25 and a six pack of pilsener. Andy would untie his boat at the dock and we would slowly pull out of Lund, passing the corner of Sevilla Island- we were off.” – Jacqueline Mathieu

I would like to dedicate this story to my nephews Gary and Darrian Hachez who carried on the tradition of this beautiful ceremony when they became of age.

Jacqueline Mathieu, of Klahoose First Nation.

Her dedication to community, strength and calmness of communication is inspiring. Jacqueline works for her community as the Brighter futures youth worker, Salish Language Tech, and as Deep Roots Klahoose Coordinator: bringing Klahoose stories and voices to CKTZ 89.5 fm Cortes Community radio.