Upcoming Events
Traditional Drum-Making Workshop A Resounding Success!
On September 16, 2006, Tom and Jackie Finnie led 8 workshop participants in creating their own, one-of-a-kind drum!
These two elders have a wealth of combined knowledge and spiritual
awareness in the community and have been teaching the creation
of drums for years. Stay tuned for more events this Fall!
Special Thanks to Tom & Jackie Finnie for sharing their drum-making knowledge with all of us.
More Events Coming Soon!
Stay tuned for more exciting events. Please let us know if you would like to attend a workshop, or if you would like to lead a workshop or storytelling here. For more info call 250 334 3773.
 XWÁYXWAY MASK (RIGHT)The xwáyxway mask has protruding eyes, a gaping mouth with a large protruding tongue, and a bird’s head for a nose, two bird-head horns, and a crest of feathers. The late Mary Clifton, who was Island
Comox, explained that the Quinsam (kwániwsam)
area is best known as the place where the Island Comox
xwáyxway mask and two “first
ancestors” appeared. Mrs. Clifton explained how
two first ancestors together with a xwáyxway
mask “dropped down from the sky”
at Quinsam, in the territory of the í7iksen
group of the Island Comox. These first ancestors were
a woman named Tísitl’a and a man
named Shálhk’em. Through
them, Mary Clifton stated, the Island Comox people had the rights
to the xwáyxway mask. Mrs. Clifton believed
that the place name kwániwsam, meaning
‘resting place’ in Island Comox,
is related to this story, in that the people who “brought
down” this mask “rested” here. |
