Canned moose meat, salmon, deer stew handed out to heal, create connections in Vancouver

Many diners were happybannock tacos were on the menu at a special dinner hosted by the Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House in Vancouver Saturday, but were even more surprised to be given a jar of preserved moose meat, deer stew or salmon to go with it.

"This helps a lot because it's giving me some preserves that I really don't get," said Donna Bird. "I mean you never get a canned moose."

More than 600 jars of the different kinds of meat, berries and even a special salve to ease muscle pain were provided by members of the Secwe'pemc First Nation, who live around Kamloops, B.C.

Watch Bonaparte Indian Band Chief Ryan Day, who coordinated the food production from B.C.'sInterior, explain all the different preserves:

'When we prepare those foods, we make those foods medicine.'

8 years ago

Duration 0:32

Bonaparte Indian Band Chief Ryan Day explains preserves prepared to help people living in Vancouver's DTES.

In June, 2016, Day asked members of his First Nation to begin settingaside extra food from their harvests to preserve for people struggling in the DTES.

"Almost everybody has some relative that lives down here that they're not in contact with," he said.

"And so them knowing that we were doing this and thinking of them and making that spiritual connection through our food, it was really moving for a lot of people."

On Saturday, Day loaded all the jars, along with donations of warm clothing and toiletries, into a trailer and brought them to Vancouver to be given out at the dinner.

The idea came from Johnny Perry, who is also a member of the Bonaparte Indian Band.

"We really wanted something to just bridge the gap between cheques for the community and also help the community get better connected to the land," Perry said.

Perry and Day say they plan to make the dinner a yearly event because of the need it serves.

"When we prepare those foods, we make those foods medicine because of the love and the protocols that we put into that," Day said.

"When people are having a hard time, that's going to bring them up and it's going to bring them hope. It's going to make them more healthy mentally, spiritually and physically."