Yau Las Hastuqwa My name is Glwaxx it translates into Female version of Ocean Going Canoe. I recieved this name from my great grandmother Maggie Hall. She gave this to me because I was born when my father was paddling down from Waglisla to Vancouver for Expo 86. It was the first time our people had practiced that tradition in over a 100 years. We were and still are a maritime people. I am blessed to be from two great Nations. Heiltsuk on my fathers side and Nuu Cha Nulth on my mothers side! I grew up in Waglisla, a small isolated Northern Indian Reserve in BC. But I still claim Ahousaht as my home as well. I come from a long line of strong indigenous women. Women who perservered so that I could have a fighting chance in this world we live in today. I have much love for my Indigenous People! We are not the bottom of the barrel in society. We are more like the barrel that holds society if we wish to use all our gifts the creator blessed us with to the fullest. I learned alot of hard lessons in life and have loved and lost. But these things made me the person that I am and strive to be. I am currently in in college working toward a degree in Political Science and then its off to Law School. I refuse to become a conformist though. I will not try to change the system from within, it has become apparent that when you try to change the system from within it is not the system that changes but you. I will not jeopardize my identity as an Indian Woman to make people comfortable around me. I think our people have done enough compromising to accommodate our foreign immigrants from Europe. It is time for change and it will come inevitably but how it comes to pass is on us. Overall I love life and I am grateful for the people in my life and the burdens that I was blessed with. All my Relations
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