Canada’s Hot Spot will be cooking with music, singing, dancing, drumming, and a very special moment of reconciliation during the New Pathways to Gold Society’s (NPTGS) 10+ Anniversary Celebrations on the weekend of April 14.
The festivities in the traditional territory of the Lytton First Nation (LFN) include performances by the Barkerville Players, First Nations drummers and dancers, and an all-star cast of talented, veteran Aboriginal musicians performing a benefit concert for wildfire relief.
NPTGS has staged and sponsored dozens of projects along the Hope to Barkerville corridor, including providing financial support for Ashcroft’s Harmony Project.
“The Rotary Club of Ashcroft-Cache Creek is very appreciative of the funding and leadership support of the New Pathways to Gold Society, which has enabled artists Marina Papais and Daniel Collett and others to create the glass mosaic panels representing the contributions and spirit of the many peoples that have made our community what it is today,” says club spokesman Pache Denis.
“The society is promoting the process of reconciliation in our regions, and the Harmony Project is a big step toward this goal within our community. We are looking forward to the unveiling celebration this year.”
Vivian Edwards says that “The Ashcroft and District Lions Club is proud to partner with the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Rotary Club in the development of the Harmony Project, and very much appreciates the support of the New Pathways to Gold Society. We wish them great success with their celebrations on April 14.”
The NPTGS 10+ Anniversary Celebrations also features a trade show, “Partners Along the Pathway,” with displays, gold panning demonstrations, performances by the Barkerville Players, and of course cake.
A major highlight of celebration is the Chief Cexpe’nthlEm Recognition and Reconciliation Storytelling Circle, marking the 160th anniversary of the critical moment in B.C. history when Chief Cexpe’nthlEm of the Nlaka’pamux Nation ended the Canyon War of 1858. Chief Cexpe’nthlEm signed a peace treaty with H.M. Snyder, an American militia captain, that prevented the conflict from escalating and spilling over into U.S. territory.
Descendants of Chief Cexpe’nthlEm and Captain Harry Snyder will participate, as will traditional knowledge keepers, drummers, and dancers from the Nlaka’pamux and other First Nations. Plans to renovate the memorial to Chief Cexpe’nthlEm will be unveiled at the event, which takes place at the Parish Hall in Lytton and starts at 4:30 p.m.
It will be followed by “Rising From the Ashes,” a benefit concert to assist Interior communities hit hard by the 2017 wildfire crisis, which begins at 8 p.m. at the Lytton Memorial Hall. The concert features veteran musicians of the “Smoked Salmon Circuit” like legendary saxophonist and Sound Tribe front man Al Stager, Ritchie Adams, Jim Billy, Big George Kirstenstein, Francis Charlie, Willard Wallace, and Gordon Dick of the Baby Fatz Blues Band. Admission to this evening of country, rock and roll, and blues music is by donation.
The New Pathways to Gold Society is a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 2007. The society partners with First Nations, communities, corporations, local businesses, and government to develop and deliver projects supporting local economies and creating heritage tourism assets.
With financial support from the Government of British Columbia and other partners, NPTGS has raised and/or leveraged more than $4 million for projects and contributed nearly $4.15 million to local communities. NPTGS gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.
The Lytton First Nation is located on 14,161 acres of land divided into 56 reserves, located at the site of the Indian Village of Kumsheen, meaning “where the rivers cross”. Rich in natural resources, they are a vibrant First Nations community that has survived adversity by continuing to practice their core traditional values of generosity, respect, and welcoming strangers into their territory.
For more information on the NPTGS 10+ Anniversary Celebrations, check out their event page at http://bit.ly/2qgofx0.
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