Hundreds of paddles are being personalized as part of a culture program hosted by the Prince Rupert Friendship House Association.
The Friendship House Paddle for Wellness is an educational, hands-on program engaging Friendship House staff, clients and community members in a number of culturally-based activities.
As part of the 2015 Friendship House Paddle for Wellness, North Coast residents are getting to experience painting their own paddle, having them blessed by elders in a historic ceremony and showcasing them during the Seafest parade.
The project is being led by Peter Loy, who has put on similar programs in a number of schools in the area.
"The really exciting thing about this is that (people from) every program at the Friendship House will be working on a paddle, right from the little preschoolers to the elders," said Loy.
The 300 paddles being used for the program arrived on May 14. Before individuals started working on them later that day, the paddles were blessed by Friendship House elders with a prayer.
For the next few weeks, Paddle for Wellness participants will work on their paddles, painting on their First Nations or family crests, along with any other designs they please.
"There's always room for personal creativity and expression in a paddle," said Loy.
A majority of the work will be done within the set time of each Friendship House program, although the centre is being opened up a few hours per week to give participants additional time.
Brody Edgars, who's in the Friendship House's youth program, started working on his paddle earlier this month and said although he's always enjoyed doing art, he's never worked on a project like this before.
"[Projects like this] are important because they help you learn more about your culture," Edgars said.
Following the completion of the paddles, they will be blessed during a ceremony hosted by the Friendship House on Friday, June 12 at the Jim Ciccone Civic Centre between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m.
"It's a celebration that we're welcoming everybody to attend. All are welcomed; we really want to get the message out to the community at large of the importance of coming and witnessing what will take place," said Loy, adding the event will be of significance.
"The paddle project and the blessing really is of historic measures. I've never heard of this many paddles being worked on and blessed before," said Loy.
The following day, on Seafest Saturday, individuals will showcasing their paddles in the Friendship House's entry in the Seafest parade.
Then on Sunday, June 14 the Friendship House will be hosting a canoe tug of war event for Seafest.
Furthermore, Loy said there will be a number of wellness events out at Prudhomme Lake where participants will use their paddles while learning basic canoe skills.