=Elaho Project=

The wilderness areas of BC have provided a great environment for taking our dance culture into the outdoors beneath the starry skies, away from disharmony of the urban setting returning us to the frequencies of nature. In 1998 Tasha Faye Evans led a group of people in the dance culture to the Walbran Valley to serve as witness to the ancient forest slated for logging. The experience of that was brought back to the city in the form of an expression thru performance at a conference on old growth forests.

In the late 90's the B-Side Collective, partnered with San Franciso's Cloud Factory Collective, began to do events at Mile 36 in the Elaho Valley. The site later to be known by its Squamish name "Puyam" (where the neighboring tribes gather") has since hosted many gatherings including EcoFest and the Reconvergence of the Tribes which took place there for 3 years. At the start of the Recon events a delegation of representatives including Chris Hill, Luna Ravenchild & Sobey met with Chief Bill Williams of the Squamish Nations requesting approval of our event which would foster respect for the historical ancestry associated with the land including burial grounds, and seasonal feeding grounds for wild goats and other wildlife. Chief Bill Williams made a brief visit to the first Recon to give his blessings. Adjacent Puyam is an area designated as a Wild Spirit area and there are numerous instances of encounters by people at events in the Elaho of spiritual forces that were witnessed by many.

Puyam has also been tended to by a group of Czech hunters who discovered the area long ago and created a totem area as well as some outhouses for the area.

Over the years and since the last Reconvergence there has been great challenges with maintaining a low impact on the land. Aside from the numerous parties that have happened there over the years from a number of different production crews there has also been many recreational users of the site. A number of individuals in the dance community including the Haus of Freaks, Alec the Mountain Man, and Shiraz have made trips at summers end to clean up as much as they could. Presently there has been a move made by the Elaho community including the Squamish Nation to restrict events occurring there and a process of creating a permit system is now underway.

Dreadnex Inc has a detailed report and call for support: click here.