Blueberry River First Nations Cultural Camp welcomes guests for 2025

PINK MOUNTAIN, B.C. — Guests, day-time visitors and members of a northeast B.C. First Nation community laughed and celebrated during its annual cultural camp.

Nestled in the valley dwarfed by Pink Mountain, Blueberry River First Nations (BRFN) Cultural Camp 2025 is taking place all-week at the Pink Mountain Ranch.

Activities during the camp highlight different aspects of Indigenous culture, including workshops around drum making, beading and making crafts and clothing, such as dreamcatchers, lampshades, ribbon skirts and more.

Lynn Harvey, cultural coordinator and organizer of the culture camp, said guests arrived during wet weather on Monday but the morning of day two went smoother.

“[We] definitely had challenges [in] setting up,” said Harvey. “The rain did put a damper on everything, so we’re behind schedule a little bit, but we picked up and we’re here today.”

Beading, which is the craftwork of stringing beads onto thread, has been practiced by the Indigenous peoples of North America for hundreds of years. 

The modern-day practice uses small glass beads, which are said by some to have come from Europeans in the 17th century.

“I’ve been doing it for quite a while,” said Heather Best, an attendee from Fort St. John. “Something about beadwork is therapeutic.”

All meals will be provided throughout the week-long event, and Tuesday afternoon festival goers were treated with musical offerings from Art and Niska Napoleon as well as Indigenous comic Sherry Mckay, who hails from Treaty 1 territory in Manitoba.

Although a member of Sagkeeng First Nation, Mckay grew up in Winnipeg. She is a member of the comedy troupe The Deadly Aunties which just finished a tour of Alberta.

While she offered an evening comedy show, she focused on a motivational talk during the daylight hours, an experience she called “unique.”

“I don’t always get to do motivational speaking and comedy on the same day for the same community,” said Mckay. “I’m an urban Indian but also [talk about] my lived experiences as a mom, as someone who grew up in poverty.

“[I’m] someone who just connects with her audience through a bunch of different things.”

Afternoon festivities included archery, slingshot and axe throwing competitions as well as a car pile-up competition, where a team will try to get as many members into the smallest car possible.

Other activities include tours up Pink Mountain and a meat drying station, where groups work to cut, skin and smoke moose meat.  

BRFN member Lillian Apsassin said the process can take up to five days, with meat being cooked and smoked for attendees.

“My mom taught me how to do this,” said Apsassin. “Now we are here teaching the young ones, or even those ones that don’t understand or don’t know anything about our cultural way of living.

“This year, we have people from different places, like India and the Philippines. [They] are here, joining us for our meats, just checking out our cultural ground and what we do with all the meats: making dry meat, [such as] preserving [and] harvesting [the meat].”

The BRFN Cultural Camp for 2025 goes until Friday, July 25th and admission is free for all to attend, with daily registration required upon arrival.