Thick hair hanging in a dark cloak to cover his boyish face, young Darryl McCarthy crouches on the forest floor over a pile of wood shavings. For several minutes he’s been scraping pieces of steel together, patiently trying to arouse fire from the sparks. Next to him sits ƛuupin, a boy of similar age, tapping a knife edge with wood, driving it down the grain of cedar pieces to feed the fire they hope will soon appear. Wearing a camouflage cap, Jordan Touchie comes with a cup full of wood shavings, silently helping the younger boy to produce the necessary eruption of sparks.
This activity unfolds late one May morning, deep in the woods by a logging road near Zeballos. The boys are practicing their fire-starting skills in preparation for the ‘Boil Water Challenge’, the last component of a series of games being held for the Nuu-chah-nulth Warriors. The culmination of months of regular meetings in their respective communities, the games took place at the Ehattesaht On The Land Camp May 23-25, where approximately 30 young men – plus their adult supporters - converged to live under the trees and compete in a series of challenges. Boys came from across Nuu-chah-nulth territory, with groups from Ehattesaht, Tla-o-qui-aht, Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ, Uchucklesaht, Huu-ay-aht, Ditidaht and Port Alberni.
This occasion marks 10 years since the Nuu-chah-nulth Warriors started, a program that engages boys up until age 18 in activities and community projects. The Warriors now have chapters in seven Nuu-chah-nulth nations – plus the Port Alberni contingent – usually meeting for one evening a week and one weekend getaway a month, which often entails camping in the territory of Vancouver Island’s west coast. Other First Nations in B.C. have adopted the program, and female chapters are emerging, including an initiative coming from the Huu-ay-aht.
Dr. Ricardo Manmohan, a coordinator with the Warrior program, calls it “a sandbox of safety” for boys going through their formative years.
“They don’t have a safe place to just try stuff and not get made fun of,” he said. “Of course you’re not going to be the best in everything. You’re not supposed to be. We all have a role in the village.”
Manmohan speaks under the trees as the dozens of boys await their afternoon of competitions. Over a campfire that’s already been burning for hours, a drum is played as singing drifts through the surrounding wilderness. Andrew Clappis Jr. scurries around the camp with a fat marker in his hand, filling out the details of the afternoon’s activities on a display board. The last will be the evening’s challenge of boiling water over a fire made without a match. Other events include the forest run, archery, slingshot, hatchet throwing, log balancing and the feather swim, a traditional challenge from Nuu-chah-nulth society that entails swimming across a river while holding a feather. A wet feather brings disqualification.
Elders from the various nations involved helped to select the events.
“The idea with Warrior Games was it’s their traditional games, what they would do to earn a wife,” explained Manmohan.
Clappis joined the Warrior program at the age of 13, when he had just moved from Anacla to Port Alberni.
“It was a good opportunity for me to have something to do after school,” said the Huu-ay-aht member. “I had just moved to Port Alberni for high school and I found it real hard to fit in.”
Now 18 and a 2024 high school graduate, Clappis serves as the operations lead with the Warriors support team, as well as the youth lead with the Port Alberni chapter. While at the Ehattesaht camp, he keeps an eye on his younger peers.
“We have to make sure the guys are being responsible and not just running off randomly,” said Clappis.
Over the last decade the Warriors program has evolved. Gatherings are still intended for young men, as coordinators find that the boys can hesitate to try new things with the pressure of having girls present. But the decision was made about six years ago to include female adult support workers. This helped to balance out the masculine energy that, at times, proved to be overbearing, said Manmohan.
“For the first four years of the program we only had uncles out, and it’s not healthy,” he reflected. “Once the aunties started coming out, we could show respect to women on the land, we could model things we are trying to teach them. It really became a healthier place.”
The COVID-19 pandemic also revealed the need for stronger food security in Nuu-chah-nulth communities, which has led the Warriors to help establish three clam gardens in the last two years. They have also harvested seals, waterfowls and sea urchins.
“If more young people can do that, they can get their community members back out on the land, safely,” said Manmohan.
