Geraldine Manson

Coast Salish Protocol was the topic when Geraldine Manson and her brother-in-law Gary Manson of Snuneymuxw talked to students, staff and others at Shq’apthut – A Gathering Place – at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo.

The January gathering was part of VIU’s on-going series entitled ‘Creating conversations for reconciliation and indigenization’.

After introducing themselves, Geraldine and Gary listened as everyone told their names and their origins. “Protocol to me is…” Gary said, “I want to know who you are, where you are from, where your parents are from. It is a very simple way to respect each other.” Geraldine added: “It is respecting one’s space and knowing who each other is so we can walk the same path together.”

Gary Manson

As Gary talked about protocol in all its forms, he added a history lesson for the group of about 35 people. “It’s important that we know our history and the losses that went along with that history and losses of protocol.

Every family had a speaker, teaching the old ways…. songs, masks, rattles, relations… our protocol… that history was lost. “People our parents’ age made a choice not to hand down our culture because they were afraid.

The were afraid their children would be taken away if they were caught doing it.” He said the 1960s saw the beginning of a revival of culture, but also a cultural clash within communities. “Some sacred things survived… but we not only lost the culture, but our footing of where we belong… Some communities didn’t even know their songs, so others shared.”

He said initiative such as the Tribal Journeys canoe experience are part of the ongoing cultural revitalization. But, he added: “The current electoral system, we are uncomfortable with it, but we function as best we can under that system.”

Motioning to the building, Gary talked about connecting to one’s surroundings. “There is a different protocol in this house. When you are speaking to the ocean, introduce yourself to that place.”

He referred to Creation stories. “When man fell from the sky… We’ve got to speak of these things in order not to lose them… our relation to all living things.”

Geraldine added: “We all carry wisdom, everyone of us. Learn to use your ears and heart, not your eyes. That is the secret.”