Tristan's Blog

Before my field trip to the Big House last Thursday I’d only seen the inside of one in a book. I have seen the outside of another one in Bamfield. I was excited to see what would happen in the Big House. During the performances I  never knew what was going to happen next. It was a lot of fun but I thought I might be a little scared of the Wild Woman but that story and dance actually turned out quite funny. If I was dancer here I would be scared performing in front of such a big audience. I was surprised that there was dirt as a floor but it made sense because the Big House now is just like the Big House from a long time ago and they didn’t have flooring back then. They are going to be getting a new roof soon. It will be metal so pigeons and other things can’t come through it anymore. In the middle of a dance I saw a pigeon come in through a hole in the roof and later the man hosting, Andy Everson, told us about the metal roof. I think some people might be sad about this because the Big House won’t be the same. I learned that Aboriginal people used songs and dance to help them work together like in the paddle song. They also told stories to help teach things. It’s really important for Aboriginal people to pass on their stories with dances so the younger kids knew all the things that have been passed down for years in their culture. I think dancing would help the kids remember more than  just a bunch of words.  I really liked learning about the Big House and I hope that I get to visit it again sometime soon.