In his custom-made cedar canoe, local artist Xwalacktun sets out for the Indigenous Games in Cowichan Bay.

It’s not called paddling; it’s pulling.

Standing on his front lawn, custom cedar paddle in hand, Xwalacktun (also known as Rick Harry) demonstrates.

“You stop pulling at your hip,” he says, stabbing his paddle forward, showing the powerful ocean stroke he uses when out in his 20-plus feet, 400-pound custom-made cedar canoe.

He carved the vessel from a single log in 1999. The prow piece and a few imperfections in the wood called for the world class artist and carver to use additional pieces of wood, binding them with epoxy.

Laid out in front of his workshop, the canoe is painted up and ready for the big water. Xwalacktun added a family flag and feather pieces that speak to his ancestral ties.

The word Pekultn, in block letters along the canoe, refers to the Seymour Creek hereditary name of Xwalacktun’s father.

“My father made river canoes with outboard motors,” the artist laughs about funny memories on the river. “They were still being used when I was a kid.

“I keep telling people I’m going to pimp my canoe,” he jokes, referring to the popular MTV reality show Pimp My Ride, where contestants add rims, flat screens, subwoofers and other accruements to their otherwise unassuming cars.

“I’ll get surround sound, a boom box, so when you’re paddling in the nice, peaceful water you can see the ripples (from the vibrating speakers).”

This week (Friday, July 25) Xwalacktun and three or four others will venture over to Nanaimo to meet with the Tribal Journeys Canoe Voyage.

In that event, over 100 canoes from aboriginal communities across North America will travel down the coast from Nanaimo to Cowichan Bay, the site of the 2008 North American Indigenous Games.

“We’ll meet 50 (canoes) from the South, 50 from the North and we’re all going to the same place,” says Xwalacktun. “You see all the drums, the singing, the people welcoming on the beach, and it’s pretty powerful stuff.”

Come July 28 those canoes from as far as Washington and the Yukon will converge at the games for welcoming ceremonies. Organizers expect over 6,000 attendees in 16 events at the Indigenous Games, with 3,000 indigenous participants and 3,000 community volunteers.

Events include boxing, lacrosse, canoeing, badminton, wrestling, and Taekwondo, among other sports.

Due to commitments at home, Xwalacktun and his canoeing partners will not stay for the length of the games, which run August 3-10, but the artist says he is very excited for the Tribal Journeys event.

When he pulls, he says, “I just think about what it was like long ago – but bringing it back to here looking at all the people coming together.”

Xwalacktun will be giving out his custom cedar paddles to those he meets on the trip.

The paddles, carved with the Coast Salish Eye, are a reminder: “To keep our focus. It reminds us we’re being watched all the time by the Creator, by our ancestors, family, our self. It reminds us to keep our focus in life.” For more info about the Indigenous Games, visit www.cowichan2008.com.