Bill Seward: Origin Of Prince Charles Canoe Club

The Origin of the Prince Charles Canoe Club

’iilh m’i tetsul lhu Queen
The Queen arrived here (on her yacht).

’i’ ’een’theelh mi’ lheelustuhw yu shhwula’ulhs.
And it was me that brought her to shore in the canoe.

sus nem’ ’uw’ tsqwlhey’ nem’ ’utl’ MacMillan.
And we had a long that was donated by MacMillan (logging company).

stl’i’s kws lumnuhws thu Queen tu sht’es they’ snuhwulh kws they’ tst.
The Queen wanted to see how we built canoes.

sus ’uw’ ’amustalum ’u tu thi xpey’.
They had given us a big cedar.

nilh kwu’elh [the child Prince Charles] ni’ nem’ they’ hwun’a’ ’ul’ qw’aqwut.
And then little Prince Charles made the first chop.

sus ’uw’ qw’aqwutus ’i’ ni’ qwixwutus tthu hay ’ul’ thi qwlhey’.
And he chopped and he missed that big log.

So on account of this they asked the Queen’s permission to name their canoe the Prince Charles. And the Prince Charles canoe club exists even to this day.

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Transcribed by Ruby Peter, typed by Sarah Kell, and edited and translated by Donna Gerdts.
Thanks to Sean Milliken and Zoey Peterson for video and post-production.