MARTYN AIM

CANADA: SALMON AND CEDAR

CLAYOQUOT SOUND IS A RUGGED PARADISE, HOME TO THE NUU-CHAH-NULTH, A POLITICAL ALLIANCE OF FIRST NATIONS RELATED THROUGH BLOOD, CULTURE AND LANGUAGE.

LIFE’S BEAUTY AND VIOLENCE, STRUGGLE AND CELEBRATION, ARE PLAYED OUT IN THESE ISOLATED COASTAL VILLAGES, FAR REMOVED FROM THE GLEEFUL TOURISM BROCHURES OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST.

Pathway into old growth forest in Ahousaht First Nation territory. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Tla-o-qui-aht community leader, Ray Martin, spends time with boys in Esowista village. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
The skeletal remains of a fishing boat run by three Ahousaht brothers is all that was found. They were lost to the ocean one wild day in 1958. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
     
  
At the Tla-o-qui-aht village of Opitsat residents and friends call for the eradication of violence and abuse in First Nation communities. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Disused Catholic church in an isolated Nuu-chah-nulth village. Canada's first peoples still suffer a complex legacy of abuse which began with the compulsary education of children in residential schools and separation from their families. Sexual and physical violence were common and cultural repression official policy. These schools which operated throughout Canada have now been closed. The wounds of First Nation Canadian people have not. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Proud Tla-o-qui-aht grandfather, Ray Martin, drums for his grandson Taylor who is learning to "Indian" dance. The paper mask is a representation of the skillfully carved wooden masks of his people, also highly respected and sought after by the global art world. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
     
  
Ahousaht man teaches his younger brother how to skin deer. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
A graffiti covered water tower in an isolated village speaks of the frustration of many young people in the region where stable employment and opportunities can be scarce. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Trail of broken cars in Ahousaht First Nation territory. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
     
  
Ahousaht men head out hunting. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
A duck-hunter on the waters of Ahousaht territory. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Ahousaht men duck-hunting on the waters of Ahousaht territory. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
     
  
Ahousaht hunters' bounty from a duck-hunting trip will feed a large extended family. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
The bounty of a duck-hunting trip is prepared in order to feed a large extended family. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Ahousaht man Murray John fishes in his First Nation's traditional territorial waters. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
     
  
Nuu-chah-nulth fishermen arrive back to Port Alberni in Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The region has been grossly over-fished by large commercial companies who take the lion's share. In contrast, First Nations with thousands of years of management of the local ecosystems' fisheries are restricted by government quotas and absurdly expensive licences. It is now near impossible for First Nations fishers to earn a living. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Nuu-chah-nulth woman expertly fillets salmon at Port Alberni, Vancouver Island. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Tla-o-qui-aht dancers move out onto the floor at a ceremonial potlatch in Clayoquot Sound, Vancouver Island. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
     
  
The wasteful and destructive practices of commercial logging practices clog the beaches and salmon tributaries of Clayoquot Sound now under the official management of the Pacific Rim National Reserve. This assumes government ownership of First Nations' lands and waters still in treaty negotiation. The complex eco-politics of Clayoquot Sound are legendary. During the nineties it was the site of some of the largest environmental actions in history as protestors in their thousands demanded a stop to the commercial logging of ancient rainforest ecosystems. Environmentalist agendas often overlooked the fact that First Nations peoples have held rights and title to the region for thousands of years which they never signed away or surrendered to the British Crown. Bound together by the desire to save the lands and waters of Clayoquot Sound local First Nations and conservationist NGO's remain in contention over its management to this day. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Tla-o-qui-aht woman Gisele Martin is the founder of Tla-ook Cultural Adventures which provides visitors with an introduction to her people's way history, culture, and traditions. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Ahousaht man Johnny John displays whale bones outside his home. While the Ahousaht no longer hunt whales for food the whale remains at the core of their spiritual and cultural belief, as it does for all the coastal First Nations peoples of western Canada. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
     
  
Tla-o-qui-aht/Hesquiaht woman Regina Martin takes salmon down from the rafters of her smokehouse - and the photographer attests - the best smoked salmon on the Pacific Northwest coast. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Tla-o-qui-aht men work in the rain to finish a canoe - a gift of honour for a respected elder and relative. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Tla-o-qui-aht master carver Joe Martin takes a break from heavy Pacific Northwest rain. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
     
  
Tla-o-qui-aht men oversee the steaming of a dug-out canoe which strengthens the wood. These techniques are thousands of years old and have nearly disappeared among Pacific Northwest cultures. The Tla-o-qui-aht work hard to preserve these traditions, not only for their own people but for all the tribes of the Pacific Northwest. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Tla-o-qui-aht men bless a canoe before the craft is taken on a first voyage. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
Tla-o-qui-aht man paddles a dug-out canoe through his people's territory in Clayoquot Sound. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
     
  
A broken down ambulance in the Ahousaht First Nation village of Maaqtusiis. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)
   
The roots and stump of an ancient old growth tree. (Credit Image: © Martyn Aim)