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Masset Magic: Overheard at All-Native — The right kind of locker room talk

By Jana McLeod
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Tyler York drives to the basket during Skidegate during the team’s game against Hydaburg in the All Native Basketball Tournament. (Matthew Allen / Black Press)

By Jana McLeod

Hello from Prince Rupert! What an amazing time so far. I was able to attend the All-Native opening ceremonies and let me tell you it was incredible. The Gingolx brought the house down with an incredible performance. I was moved to tears! Seeing other cultures shine in such a manner makes my heart so happy!

Sharing core ideas and ways to go forward in life makes for a good future. The upcoming Heiltsuk and Haida Women’s dialogue session is so close now. The event starts at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27 at the Howard Phillips Community Hall in Masset and continues Wednesday. The agenda is packed with stimulating topics and there’s even an open mic. The creative process looks like it will glean a lot of healing among the participants. If you can help out by hosting a few ladies from off island please call the band office in Ga’au at 250-626-3337.

Joshua is in Ottawa living his dream as Rachael and Benny visit her parents. Being all alone has been very interesting.

People don’t notice you when you’re by yourself so I have been listening and watching life go by…

I heard a girl explaining to her dad that having a dog is very important as her buddy is “too cool to talk to me” — she even used air quotes. She said she will have her stuffies until she’s 22. She would go to the pool from the sauna, just sitting and talking her dad’s ear off about what she was going through.

He listened and starting talking about her hair and the spirituality of her braid, and how someone had convinced her it was ugly and she tried to cut it. His way of letting her know there are different ways we all see things. She felt so safe to speak her truth.

I also heard a couple teens talking about a girl who wasn’t there. There was a twist though, because their words were kind. She started off, “Oh you know X? Well, I trained her today and she rocked it, she was so good.” The other girl responded with “Oh wow that’s awesome.” Now I know I sound so much better if I talk about others nicely. Good lesson for me, since I have listened to some really nasty things about people I care about. Everyone has cheerleaders who don’t care to hear nasty things about family or friends. Let’s spread some good gossip about each other.

I walked by one of the booths in the civic centre and could hear a couple talking about the soapberries they were preparing. She motioned as they whipped it up, and I could hear her say “See?!” He looked at her and said “Yeah okay, you know how to get it hard!” I couldn’t help myself, I began laughing, hard! Which made them laugh because they didn’t know anyone had heard their exchange. Humour is an important tool in life.

The winner of my observations though has to be a girl listening to Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” in a change room. She started to sing along and her voice was beautiful. She was really young and so talented. It made me think, do people tell her she is? It made me wonder if the two scared girls I saw knew how gorgeous they were? We need to tell one another our gifts, pass on the glory of confidence.

I thank all the people who commented when I was scared to claim my seat. It was with me to act but the words sure helped. Ask for what you need — the world won’t end. God bless, take care.