'It's not just a song and dance:' father and daughter connect with roots for Nisga'a Nation's new year - Action News
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British Columbia

'It's not just a song and dance:' father and daughter connect with roots for Nisga'a Nation's new year

Jerry Adams, an urban Nisgaa citizen living in Vancouver, B.C., didnt start traditional singing and dancing until he was in his mid-sixties.

Hundreds celebrate the annual Hobiyee celebration in Vancouver

Various First Nations from around the province celebrate Hoobiyee which marks the Nisgaa new year at the PNE forum in Vancouver on Friday. Jerry Adams and his daugher Melissa also danced at the event. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Jerry Adams, an urban Nisga'a citizen living in Vancouver, B.C., didn't start traditional singing and dancing until he was in his mid-sixties.

He's one of thehundreds of people celebrating Hobiyee, the start of the Nisga'a new year, at the PNE Forum in Vancouver this weekend by performing traditional dances that he has practiced all year.

"Growing up in the '50s and '60s and '70s you kind of didn't have that spirit as Nisga'a, or any Indigenous person, back in those days because we were constantly being put down," he said.

"Many of our people, back in those days, were afraid to be who we were."

Jerry Adams, now 69-years-old, joined a local Nisgaa group with his daughter a few years ago. (Wawmeesh G. Hamilton/CBC)
Celebrations take place at the PNE Forum on Friday and Saturday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

He grew up in the old village of Aiyanshin northwestern B.C. with his grandparents until his early teens, when he was sent to day school in Chilliwack and Kaslo. Away from his roots, he says he didn't know enough about his culture to miss it.

He moved to Vancouver in 1978, got married and had three children.

Things started to change for Adamsonce he became a father.

The ceremony was revived in 1991 and has become a cultural touchstone for Indigenous people in Vancouver. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

"I had to start learning who I was as a Nisga'a man," he told CBC's Stephen Quinn, host of The Early Edition.

"That encouraged me to be who I was again."

Members of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation perform during Hoobiyee at the PNE. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Four years ago, he joined a Nisga'a dance group with one of his adult daughters, Melissa.

"Seeing my daughter take the first step was really heartwarming for me," he said.

Various First Nations from around the province celebrate Hoobiyee which marks the Nisgaa new year at the PNE forum in Vancouver on Friday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
The two-day event wraps up on Saturday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Melissa started dancing with a local Nisga'a groupin late 2015 and quickly encouraged her family to join as well.

"It's not just a song and dance, we're learning about our laws and our protocols and roles and relationships," she said.

"It feels like you're so much part of a community and you're proud to be Nisga'a."

With files from The Early Edition