Bella Coola in the News!


Bella Coola has been in the news a couple of times in the past few weeks. For those of you who haven't caught the stories, here they are............

Bummer: Bella Coola Raises Giggles
The name of the town that supplied Canada's lucky 'Spirit Tree' has a saucy Italian meaning
Jeff Lee, Vancouver SunPublished: Thursday, February 09, 2006

TURIN -- Poor Bella Coola, it gets no respect here. In fact, it's the butt of a joke circulating around BC-Canada Place. It turns out that Bella Coola, translated into Italian, roughly means "nice butt." The B.C. central coast community figures in the Turin 2006 Winter Games because it was the original home of a 240-year-old cedar "Spirit Tree" that is supposed to bring good luck to those who touch it. The tree, which is decorated with an aboriginal mask, is the stunning centrepiece in the extravagant log chalet that is B.C.-Canada Place. The problem is Italians can't hear the words "Bella Coola" without giggling because it is very similar to "bella collo", a phrase men here are more apt to say about a woman's figure. "Everybody we tell the story to about where the log came from starts laughing when we tell them it is from Bella Coola," said Cinzia Zotto, a staff member. "Bella in Italian means nice, or beautiful. Collo means bum or butt, and the two together are seen as a reference to a woman. It raises eyebrows and lots of laughter."
The log came from the waters near Bella Coola, which is located at the mouth of the Bella Coola River about 400 km north of Vancouver, and is named for the original inhabitants, people of the Nuxalk (formerly known as Bella Coola) nation, who live in nearby settlements. It was found by Sitka Homes, the 100 Mile House company contracted by the B.C. government to build the two-storey, multi-roomed lodge in the Piazzale Valdo Fusi, a small square in the centre of Turin.
Zotto, who lives in Coquitlam but whose parents are from Trentino region in northeastern Italy, said the tree has become famous in its own right because staff tell visitors that rubbing it brings good luck. With more than 1,000 people visiting BC-Canada Place each day, that's a lot of rubbing. The richly deep red hue of the trunk has started to take on a polished, oiled look.
"We actually have people coming up and hugging the Spirit Tree," Zotta said. "Everybody wants a bit of good luck from it." There's not a lot the staff can do about the translation, but they've pledged not to put up a sign saying where the tree is from. "It would be lost in the translation," Zotta said.

And here's the second story................slightly less humourous.................

Bella Coola Boy Injured in Shooting
VANCOUVER - A 13-year-old Bella Coola boy is being treated at BC Children's Hospital after being shot over the weekend. Rescue crews from CFB Comox airlifted the boy to Port Hardy late Saturday. He was then flown to Vancouver. It's possible the boy was playing with a gun when he incurred the injury, but so far, RCMP are not commenting on the specifics of the case.

Teen Shot, Airlifted to Vancouver
BELLA COOLA - Air Force officials say they were called into the Interior town of Bella Coola late Saturday to medevac out a 13-year-old boy who had been shot. The boy and his mother were flown to Port Hardy, then Vancouver. The boy, who was reportedly shot in the arm, was recovering in B.C. Children's Hospital Sunday night and was listed in "fair condition." Global BC reported Sunday that the RCMP is investigating the shooting and has questioned a 16-year-old.



So............... what has this photo of my duplex got to do with this story? The shooting happened in the other half of my duplex! I wasn't home at the time, though I must have gotten home just after it happened, apparently about 5:00 p.m., last Saturday night. I heard a lot of ruckus next door, but I didn't hear a gun shot - now that would have freaked me out!!!!!!! So on Saturday, I was unaware of what had happened. The next day, the school caretaker asked me if I'd heard about the "excitement" at my house.............No, says I, what excitement? So he told me that the neighbour boy had been fooling around with a rifle and shot someone through the elbow............Oh! Then, late Sunday afternoon when I got home, there was a message on my machine from a friend who had been in the neighbourhood that afternoon. He wanted to know if I was OK as there were cop cars all around the house...........again, I had missed the excitement as I was at school working. Next thing I know, one of the techers from the school phones me and says she thinks I should move out of my place..........! What to do?

Never a dull moment in Bella Coola! Spring is coming, and there's a couple of local dogs in heat these days, so that means lots of action on the doggie front.......actually, my front yard is more like it - packs of eager fellas scuffling for "position" with the hot little lady, barking and howling, fighting and yapping. Soon, there will be more cute little puppies........!

Mandala Mania

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine, Sandy Johal, taught me how to draw mandalas. In case you don't know what a mandala is, in its simplest form, a mandala (the name comes from the sanskrit, meaning 'circle') is a symmetrical geometric design, generally with a central point, which can be more or less enclosed within a circle.

The first kind of mandala I learned how to make was created by drawing a grid of lines and concentric circles using a ruler and a compass, then colouring concentric rings with different colours of oil pastels, and finally, etching a design using a knife.














The next kind I started making used the same basic grid of lines and concentric circles, but I drew the mandala design with black pen. This simplified the process is some ways, as I was no longer working with colour, but put the focus more on form, shape, balance and design. The first ones I drew free-hand, and made them symmetrical.














Then I began drawing ones which were not symmetrical, but rather 'spiralled' and 'moved' around the central point.













Then, I started working with a ruler, and boy, could I ever get into lots of detail with that technique.














My latest ones again use with colour. I draw the design with black pen, then 'colour' in the shapes with watercolour pencils, then 'paint' the colour with water to give a watercolour effect. The mandala at the top is also an example of this kind.















The amazing thing about drawing mandalas is that you don't really plan them - once the grid is drawn, you just start drawing in lines and shapes, draw the same thing in each quadrant of the grid, and before your eyes, a design, a mandala, starts to appear. It grows, changes, and emerges right before your eyes, within the space of less than an hour. The possiblities are infinite. No one is ever the same.















I taught my neice and nephew to draw mandalas, and they took to the process like fish to water. They liked the process so much that we even had a mini art show of our creations, and staged a mock 'opening' to show off what we created during an afternoon when I was visiting.

Now, sister Mary has created a quilted mandala hanging - yet another manifestation of the infinite possibilities of mandala design.



















More about mandalas.....Mandalas were first created by the 'Hindus' in India and were used in religious ceremonies as early as 1500 B.C.E. Mandalas are also used by Tibetan Buddhists. Their general purpose is to represent the oneness of the universe, and they are also used as meditation aids.