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It’s Pow Wow feet stomping with strength and stamina for the men and Indian fancy shawl dancing for the native women of Squamish BC Canada. With youth being the focus, young men and women, even children, are dressed in full regalia at this annual gathering of the Squamish Nation Youth Pow Wow 2010. Squamish is part of Four Host First Nations, an official partner of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver and Whistler.


Capilano Indian Reserve Park, 100 Capilano Road, West Vancouver, BC

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It’s Pow Wow action Grand Entry time with First Nations aboriginal dancers of men and women from all ages. Native dancers in full regalia stomped on grass to kick off the Squamish Nation Youth Pow Wow in Capilano Indian Reserve Park in West Vancouver on July 9-11, 2010. The event was a premiere North American gathering for the First Nations aboriginal people of Canada and their native American brothers in the south.

Capilano Indian Reserve Park, 100 Capilano Road, West Vancouver, BC

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The 23rd annual Squamish Nation Youth Pow Wow that took place on July 9-11 at Capilano Indian Reserve Park was a way for the indigenousness people of Canada and the U.S. to re-kindle old friendship, make new ones and to celebrate a common heritage of being the first people who have lived in different parts of North America for thousands of years if not longer. A key part of this year’s event was to encourage the younger generation to be engaged in the process, to learn about the native protocols and what it means to be part of a First Nations community.

The native people of Canada have suffered a great deal of unfair treatments at the hands of governments in the past. They were pushed off the land. Their languages and culture were suppressed with their traditional livelihood threatened. Forced assimilation, unemployment, discrimination etc. have all lead to a great deal of social problems at Indian reserves and in impoverish urban areas as a result. Progress has been gradually coming in recent years. Land claims and treaties are enacted and in the Vancouver area in particular, the formation of the Four Hosts First Nations (FHFN) which consisted of Squamish, Lil’wat, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh nations, which became an integral partner of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Passing on the traditional cultural heritage in a fast-changing and rapidly-assimilating world is a challenge for many of today’s societies that have a strong connection to their past. How to cultivate the youths to have a sense of belonging and be proud of their heritage are no so easily-achieved objectives. For the First Nations community, an event such as the Squamish Nation Youth Pow Wow is certainly one of the ways to achieve that and emphasis has been placed in this years’ event.


There were native dance competition for all ages, arts and crafts, a food fair, and Grand Entry gatherings happened at various times of the three day event. Lots of handshakes, family togetherness, old friends and new acquaintances exchanging greeting and sharing a good joke or two all around.

Tewanee Joseph, executive director and CEO of the Four Host First Nations Squamish Nation Pow Wow 2010 Native Dance at Capilano Indian Reserve Park

The retiring of the 2009-2010 Squamish Nations Princesses too at Grand Entry

Grand Entry Dance with Northshore Mountains as Backdrop





Native Canadian Flag at Squamish Nation Youth Pow Wow 2010

Drummers Bringing in Grand Entry at Squamish Nation Youth Pow Wow 2010

Family Togetherness and Traditional Values at Squamish Nation Youth Pow Wow 2010

Young Female Competitive Dancer at Squamish Nation Youth Pow Wow 2010

Stand By the Canadian First Nations Flag with a Native Chief on It

First Natiosn Dancers Taking a Break at Grand Entry Time

Squamish Nation Youth Pow Wow 2010 at Capilano Indian Reserve Park





Capilano Indian Reserve Park, 100 Capilano Road, West Vancouver, BC

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The International Buddhist Society is a charitable non-profit organization in Canada that was established in 1981 by two Buddhist disciples who donated land and funds to built a most impressive Chinese Buddhist temple in North America. The temple that was opened two years later is one of the largest (if not the largest) and most authentic Chinese Buddhist temples in North America with a design that was based on the Forbidden City in Beijing, China. With Buddhism being the most popular religion in China, there are actually three most-recognized Buddhist temples in Richmond BC. The other two being The Ling Yen Mountain Temple and the soon-to-be-finished Thrangu Monastery.

The International Buddhist Temple has a number of halls, courtyards, pool and dedicated areas. Wisdom Fountain, lotus pond, nine heavenly dragons and Siddhartha Gautama Pool, Four Heavenly Kings and the Avalokitesvara Buddha, or Guan-Yin, with a thousand hands and eyes are all places and objects of interest to even causal Buddhist followers. The statue of Buddha Sakyamuni in the Main Gracious Hall is also the largest in North America.

The temple has grown in size over the years and now includes a garden next door where monks and other disciples farm fruits and vegetables for the temple’s own consumption. Until you actually set foot at the temple, you wouldn’t believe that such a Buddhist retreat can be found in Vancouver suburb Richmond or Steveston BC, Canada.

Richmond’s diverse population is well served by a wide variety of churches and temples. All the world’s major religious beliefs are represented here on a short strip of the #5 Road in the city.

Come to the “Highway to Heaven” as this Richmond roadway is called and you can witness multiculturalism in action in the different houses of God. Muslim mosques, Asian Kwun Yin temples, Buddhist enlightenment schools and places of worships for South Asians, Christians, Jews etc. can all be found here.

In 2007, CBC’s The National and CBC Radio One Sounds Like Canada selected Richmond’s No. 5 Road as one of the 52 finalists in the Seven Wonders of Canada contest that also included other iconic places and symbols such as the igloo, Niagara Falls, CN Tower etc.

In the end though, Richmond’s #5 Road lost out to even Vancouver’s UBC Wreck Beach where devotees of the back-to-nature religious faith beat the pants off everyone in their own group as well.

As the saying goes, to be included is already an honor. The #5 Road in Richmond, BC should be proud.