Excitement is building for Hoobiyee 2025, a two-day celebration of Indigenous dance and culture set to illuminate Vancouver’s PNE Forum on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1.
Pronounced HOO-bee-yay, the event is guided by the emergence of the first crescent moon in late winter and marks the beginning of the Nisga’a new year.
The Nisga’a people have lived in the Nass River Valley of British Columbia’s northwest coast since before recorded time. In Vancouver, the Nisga’a Ts’amiks Vancouver Society represents over 2,000 Nisga’a citizens who reside within the Greater Vancouver, Victoria and Vancouver Island regions.
Each year, the Nisga’a Ts’amiks Vancouver Society hosts Hoobiyee, extending invitations to dance groups from other Nations to join the festivities.
Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation (TFN) on the west coast of Vancouver Island is sending about 80 dancers this year, according to elder Grace George and Corinne Martin, Tla-o-qui-aht’s homeschool co-ordinator for education. George’s Nuu-chah-nulth name is n̓aaskiisiya, meaning ‘full of light’, while Martin’s name is tuutussimka, which translates to ‘female thunderbird’.
George and Martin are also known as their nations “crafty people of Hoobiyee”, and have been busy hemming shawls, ironing the TFN logo onto little flags and decorating dresses.
George explained that except for lead dancers or hinkiits who wear fancy shawls and headdresses, most TFN shawls are black with a red or white fringe.
“This stems back to the potlatch ban because if they got raided all they got was plain shawls,” said George, who will be performing ‘The David Family Song’, her family’s dance which she says is hundreds of years old.
The Government of Canada banned potlatches from 1885 to 1951 as “part of an effort to destroy Indigenous culture and religion,” writes the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. The ban was part of the Indian Act, which was meant to regulate the lives of Indigenous people and used as a tool of assimilation.
Martin says she’s excited for Hoobiyee. She says it’s a chance to witness other culture groups from all over the province perform, to make friends and to make good connections.
“Hoobiyee is a great experience for our youth/culture group to participate in and to show who we are as Tla-o-qui-aht. Our culture songs and dances is what keeps us strong and connected to each other,” said Martin.
TFN is scheduled to perform on Feb. 28 at 2 p.m.
Maaqtusiis Elementary and Secondary School in Ahousaht on Flores Island has over 40 students to dance at Hoobiyee this year.
“We have been practicing twice a week in the evenings at the Thunderbird Hall since the beginning of January. They had their final practice last Wednesday (Feb. 12) with their regalia,” said Maaqtusiis cultural team leader and teacher Terri Robinson. “We have been attending this event since 2018, I believe, with our group growing bigger each year. We are grateful to all the women and men who help the children learn our songs and dances. They have worked hard and will bring good energy to this cultural event.”
The Ahousaht Cultural Group is scheduled to perform at 3 p.m. on March 1 and the Maaqtusiis Cultural Group is at 1 p.m. that day.
Once again, Hoobiyee’s theme is ‘Reclaiming Our Spirit’. Doors open at 10 a.m. and the two-day event is free. Over 60 Indigenous vendors and artisans will be on-site selling traditional foods and crafts.
To see the full Hoobiyee 2025 program and venue directory, visit: https://tsamiks.com/hoobiyee.
