Author: Dana Malaguti

Residents of the Musqueam urban first nation have confronted dispossession and discrimination from the government over the last 130 years. These restrictions have shaped the current situation at the nation, where many face poverty and prejudice. Nonetheless, a number of Musqueam members have enhanced their employment opportunities at the Native Education College- a cultural sensitive institution fostering academic training and community spirit for the aboriginal learner.

“The aboriginal people deal with social issues like homelessness and unemployment. We try to help them improve their lives here, “ said Gary Johnston, Cultural Coordinator at the Native Education College.

After 3 years since the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, civil societies in Canada continue to urge the government to implement it without much success. The declaration aims to diminish the gap of opportunities between non-aboriginal and aboriginal people.

Founded in 1985, The Native Education College has enrolled hundreds of aboriginal students- including several members of the Musqueam Nation- in their basic education programs, offering certificates and diplomas to their graduates. “Our Early Childhood Education program is the most successful one. This program has an employment rate of 100 percent after graduation. There is a high demand for this type of service in the aboriginal communities, and our program is well-recognized in Vancouver,” said Johnston.

The school intends to level out students who need pre-requisites to enter universities or teach new careers to adults seeking to improve their employment situation. “Our students on average are 30 to 40 years of age. Many businesses for the aboriginal people have diminished over the years, like fishery for example. We enroll many people trying to change careers because they need new jobs,” said Johnston.

Moreover, this organization not only provides learning opportunities to students, but also cultivates unity amongst Aboriginal cultures. The Longhouse that comprises the campus was built in accordance to aboriginal traditions, and it promotes positive energy and community spirit.

At the beginning of each semester, the college organizes a welcoming ceremony for all students following traditional protocols of the Longhouse. Students enter the college from a door carved in a cedar pole, symbolizing an abandonment of negative energy and the beginning of new career opportunities.

“The ceremony is an important experience for students. You enter the college from this door, and you leave all the bad energy behind you.  During the ceremony we play traditional songs and we dance to the beat of drums,” said Johnston.

Golfers quietly retracted balls from dispensing machines at the Musqueam Golf and Learning Academy. Minimum interaction among visitors was visible, and only a few women chatted in the cafeteria area.  A lack of community foundation was blatant in this club. However, one charismatic foreign-born player assistant at the club challenged my perception on a Thursday afternoon.

With the vitality of a teenager, 73-years-old Christian Penafiel loudly greeted and waved at players as they passed by. In his heavy accent, Christian complimented and recommended  clubs and strategies to players in each hole.  He picked up every ball he found on the ground, and eagerly returned them to the owners once they had finished playing. “I know she loves that ball. Every time she comes to play and loses it, I try to find it,” said Penafiel.

Native of Spain, Penafiel arrived to Canada 40 years ago looking for new job opportunities.  Without any formal academic training, he embarked a career in the hospitality business as a room service manager for the Four Seasons hotel chain, which lasted 27 years.  His background in customer-service prepared him well for his current job.

He retired at the age of 65, and soon after became a full-time volunteer player assistant at the Musqueam Golf and Learning Academy “I have been working here for 3 years, and I love my job. I help people play faster so they don’t stop other players behind, “said Panafiel. His main responsibilities are to coordinate group activities – such as championships- and to guarantee a fast-pace flow of players around the course’s 18 holes. Nevertheless, he assumed as part of his job requirements the responsibility of creating a friendlier environment around the golf course. “I want people to feel welcome here,” said Panafiel.

The Musqueam Golf and Learning Academy is a public executive golf course. This 18-holes course suits the needs of beginner players and less passionate golfers with only 333 yards in length. “People don’t come here to make friends, they want to play fast,” said Panafiel.

Although the academy’s nature limits interaction among players, Christian’s work has impacted the place. Women and men alike affectingly greeted him upon arrival, and people seemed enthusiastic to rely on his advices on the golf course.

“I will help you in a minute dear,” said Penafiel to a teenage player as she happily dragged her golf bag onto the course that day.

A steep road introduced a landscape of lavish cars around the bright green grass of the Marine Drive Golf Club. An air of power and wealth surrounded this plot. While people around the world still face a strong recession, this club contrasted the reality of many. Nevertheless, all the luxury at display could not disguise the fact that the Marine Drive Golf Club has been a place of passion and commitment to the sport above all.

The Marine Drive Golf Club is an exclusive organization formed by 200 members of both genders and various ages. As explained by Ron Pauls, Chief Operating Officer at the Marine Drive Golf Club, the institution rarely introduces new associates. However, when they have the capacity to accept new applicants, a very meticulous process is carried out due to the distinctiveness they so strongly guard.   As a continual condition, applicants need the support of two current members to be considered.

Affiliates partially own the club, and the high price paid for this organization’s membership has attracted only those who are genuinely passionate about the sport and are fully committed to its constant practice.

“Being a part of this club is a very expensive thing to do, and only the people who are truly committed and kin to the sport come here. Otherwise, they will practice golf in a public course,” said Pauls.

A great sense of pride for members’ accomplishments throughout national and international golf tournaments was palpable at the Marine Drive Golf Club.  Several trophies and plaques decorated the Clubhouse’s walls. “We have had many champions from different age-groups over the years, like for example Doug Roxburgh,” said Pauls.

Over two weekends each year, the club hosts an internal championship for its members as a mean to challenge these zealous golfers.  A wide board around the golf course exhibited the names and accomplishments of all the participants in the championship currently taking place, and people eagerly browsed them as they walked by. “Members here love these championships. Everybody tries to participate,” said Pauls.

Even though a high level of concentration was visible among golfers, members amicably greeted each other around these facilities. An atmosphere of tranquility and serenity escorted this club- making any visitor wish to have a similar getaway in the city.

In spite of the fact that Canada narrowly escaped the effects of the global recession, many in Vancouver still cannot afford current housing prices. However, an elite group of citizens in the South West Marine Drive have enjoyed mansions with imposing front yards and doorways.  As attractive as these houses were, a lasting impression of privacy remained since gardens and entrances seemed guarded from any passer-by.

The front yard appeared to be a powerful place in this private community, flaunting beautiful gardening designs and grand entrances around the public streets. But one could only enjoy the view of these demonstration gardens from the distance, providing some level of privacy to their owners.

Neighbors in this area have incorporated narrow entrance halls of tall pine tress and pebble roads in their homes, blocking ones’ view from the actual property. Likewise, mansions at times could not be fully appreciated due to high-clipped hedges or walls casing the entire plot, leaving only dashing doors and elegant house number plaques visible to the observer.

More often than expected, houses around these blocks placed commanding signs of active alarms systems in use and of defense dogs on these premises.

Gardeners outstand in this neighborhood, contrasting the image of the richest with the working class. “Status is important around here. They have beautiful houses and of course they want beautiful gardens as well,” said Reagan Olmstead, an employee of the Silent Gardener, a landscape maintenance company offering services to several residential properties in this locality. “The owners of these houses rarely come outside when we work here, they sometimes greet us, some are nice to us, but it is not very common,” said Olmstead.

Hence, aesthetics seemed to be a relevant matter for the South West Marine Drive residents, and art has a strong presence in this part of Vancouver. Kilometers (and at times acres) of trimmed hedges, perennial gardens, stone patios, oval lawns surrounded by flowers, small piazzas, vibrant fountains, cascades, modern plant vases, limestone walkways and romantic sculptures in steel or ceramic dominated the scene.

An exhibition of assorted winter flowers was at view around this drive; with petunias, roses, cyclamens, lavender flowers, lilies, tulips, yellow narcissuses, magnolias, hydrangeas, iris bulbs, purple wisterias at display. “We come once per week to each house, and usually two gardeners work in one house at the same time for at least 8 hours removing leaves, weeds and dead flowers,” Olmstead said.

The imagery observed during a stroll to the South West Marine Drive locality can tentatively counter any previous impression of Vancouver as a prosperous city, where the wealthiest share streets with the underprivileged.

The sight of beautiful houses with high-clipped hedges and expensive cars parked in garages dominated the scene around Dunbar’s narrow and noiseless street. One could sense an air of affluence in the surroundings.

Within a few blocks from this attractive spectacle, the scenario drastically changed when “Musqueam Nation” signs hanging from light poles emerged.

At just meters from well-off houses, untidy mobile homes with plastic fences came into view. A feeling of abandonment became evident to the eye in the streets composing the nation.

Some domiciles appeared to be heavily neglected, with wrecked vehicles parked in their backyards. More than ten pairs of rubber boots lying outside some residences were apparent at times, and they all seemed to belong to different persons living in the same households.

Right in front of the impoverished homes at the nation, a golf course was visible: The Musqueam Golf Course and Learning Academy.

Aboriginal residents of different ages (mostly children) affably interacted on the streets along 51st Avenue, breaking the silence felt minutes before on the richer side.

“There are around 600 hundred people currently living in this nation, but around 1,500 Musqueams inhabit the greater Vancouver area,” said K. Louis Point, director and board member at the Native Education College and a resident of this neighborhood. Many community members caringly greeted Point as she passed by, showing great affection and respect towards her. “Everybody knows me around here, as you can see, because I have lived here since I was 14 years old and I am active in the community,” she said.

A connection between the Aboriginal Adult Learning Centre at the nation and the University of British Columbia seemed to be a source of pride for the community. “ At our institution, you can study various languages and receive 6 credits from UBC,” Point said. “The reserve manages the Musqueam Golf Course and a Native Adult Learning Centre,” she said.

Likewise, according to Point, some divisions of the Musqueam reserve have been leased out to the government, and tax money collected from these residences returns to the reserve’s management council.

She eagerly extended an invitation to an upcoming aboriginal welcoming ceremony at the Native Education College, which can possibly foster a better understanding of the contrasting realities citizens experience around the South West Marine Drive area.