"The Water Carries Us - Canoe Song" (Jen, Kym, and the Khast'an Drummers)
This song has a traditional drum beat but a bit faster for paddling like Waniska. The song is both literal and metaphorical for the journey of life.
Dakelh are the people who travelled by canoe/boat. This ended when the railroads came through. The existence of this song and the continuance of the Dakelh culture shows the resilience of the Dakelh. The sound of the train whistle at the song's end signifies the complexities of ongoing colonization and our resilience to survive and thrive through it.
Khast'an
The Khast'an drummers are a group of Lheidli T'enneh members and friends who have passion for the drum and the cycles of life it represents.
The name Khast'an means "fireweed" in the Lheidli dialect of Dakelh. The Khast'an group is constantly growing with the goal of promoting the Lheidli T'enneh language, history, and culture through song and dance
Creative Commons License: CC BY - NC - ND
We invite communities, groups, individuals who live, work, and/or play alongside the tributaries or the channel of this River to join us. Consider contacting the Fraser Riverkeeper to upload your original songs which honour, celebrate, protect, and strengthen reciprocal relations with the longest river in BC and the River's watershed that covers a significant part of British Columbia. Let us all be a tributary and come together in one powerful river of caring. Water is life. Healthy river = healthy beings (who depend on this river and watershed).
In the spirit of the river, the artists kindly ask for a donation to the Fraser Riverkeeper in exchange for the full song download links. A portion of proceeds will go towards Fraser Headwaters Alliance to support habitat restoration and protection work in the Fraser Headwaters.
