Wild Salmon Caravan Vancouver Parade – Murray Bush Photos

Another spectacular Wild Salmon Caravan Mardi Gras style parade with drumming, regalia, costumes, floats, signs, banners and more, which all express in celebration our love for and deep concern to protect Wild Salmon. Led by the Salish Matriarchs, the parade started at the Native Friendship Centre and walked up Commercial Drive to Trout lake where a salmon ceremony was held at the lake then followed by an amazing salmon feast, speakers, and performances.

This Rainbow Parade in Vancouver launches the Wild Salmon Caravan and its third annual journey which will follow the wild salmon from the Salish Seas to Secwepemcul’ecw territory, stoping at several communities along the way. The Caravan will be led this year by Salish matriarchs from Indigenous communities all along the route from Vancouver to the Adams River.

The Oct. 7-12 Caravan will honour and celebrate the spirit of wild salmon with festive parades, ceremonies, traditional feasts and music in Coastal and Interior Salish communities including Vancouver, Chilliwack, Merritt, Kamloops and Chase.

The Grandview Woodland Food Connection is an organizing partner and honored to be a part of this event, recognizing that salmon are a critical food justice issue, in particular, for its importance to Indigenous people and a whole host of other species that depend on salmon for their survival. Supporting the protection of wild salmon is an important reconciliation action towards ensuring a stronger Indigenous land and food system. To this end, we must step up our support for and with Indigenous peoples in their struggle to save the salmon, including working towards an end to open pen fish farms, overfishing, oil pipelines, and a host of other environmental threats to salmon.