CALL TO WITNESS Spirit of Powwow began its journey at the Squamish Nation Recreation Centre. Over 300 people attended the Call to Witness ceremony honouring the book, Kay Johnston and Gloria Nahanee. The ceremony itself took one full day but the preparation took much longer. According to tradition Gloria and Kay each had a speaker, a person who spoke for them during the ceremony. They did not speak at all! Ray Thunderchild was the speaker for Gloria and Gene Harry was the speaker for Kay. Gene had to teach Kay what to do and the order of the day, as Gloria was very familiar with the process. Kay and Gloria had to tell the speakers about themselves, the book and its purpose so that they could present for them during the ceremony. A feast was provided for all those who attended. The Squamish Nation Recreation Centre not only provided the building but the huge pots needed to cook for 300 people. Four of Gloria's friends were there to help as all of the meat, vegetables and side dishes had to be provided and prepared, as tradition required, by the authors. Gloria was used to thinking in 100's, maybe even 1000's when preparing food for long house or powwow functions. Kay was used to small dinner parties. As a result, Gloria had some amusing moments. She phoned Kay and asked her if, on her way over, she would stop and pick up margarine for 600-700 buns. There was a moment of stunned silence. In a quiet voice, Kay asked "How much margarine is that? Kay was heard to comment after peeling hundreds of potatoes and chopping them into cubes "My Mother would be grinning from ear to ear if she could see me peeling all these potatoes." The day of the ceremony everything happened just the way it was planned. It was a moving and emotional time for all. Ray and Gene spoke in English and Squamish, telling the audience about the book, the authors and the importance of working together to cross cultural boundaries. People were called to the floor to speak as witnesses to the ceremony, hence the name. This is an oral tradition of ensuring an event is remembered. All spoke about the importance of the ceremony itself as well as about the book and the authors. Each witness was given coins as a token of thanks by Kay and Gloria. Copies of Spirit of Powwow were presented to those who had helped the authors in the development of the book by sharing their stories, humour and time. Gloria was given from Kay via Ray, a hand carved cedar box, containing the original eagle feather referred to in the book. Kay was honoured by Gloria, via Gene, with a Chief Joseph blanket, placed around her as she was called "sister". Appropriately, the day of celebration ended with a mini powwow. After everyone had left the honoured pair of authors retreated to the kitchen to clean up!  Blessings to all those who were part of this book. CALL TO WITNESS-an oral tradition When an Aboriginal ceremony is held in a community, the people who are putting it on will call a variety of people to come and witness the event. The people will be from many different generations, both male and/female and with different backgrounds. These people will view the event through their eyes and remember what they saw and heard. Later,if an occasion occurs when someone, or an organization, wants to know what happened at the event those who were 'Called to Witness' will gather and each will tell what they observed. This ensures that a rounded picture of the event will be imparted to the listeners. The people who are 'Called to Witness' at the actual event receive a token amount of coins as a thank you.

A note of interest, immediately prior to the launch of the book, there was a dock workers strike in the Port of Vancouver. The books were in a container sitting on the dock and there was no way the publisher could get access to them. Lots of people put out their energy and prayers and lo ...... the books were released the afternoon prior to the ceremony.