Vancouver mayor and council submit to historic First Nations ceremony – Vancouver Sun

Brushing off’ ritual seen as an act of reconciliation

Vancouver’s newly elected mayor and council were given a historic ceremonial “brushing off” by the region’s three First Nations Tuesday in an act of ultimate reconciliation of the city’s early fractured relations with its aboriginal neighbours.

The ceremony, performed jointly by member of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh, was designed to brush off any negative and troubling issues from Mayor Gregor Robertson and his 10-member council, and to give them clear minds and hearts with which to do city business.

Individuals have sometimes been given the ceremony, but those who organized the event said this is believed to be the first time in Canadian history that a local, provincial or federal government has participated in the elaborate ritual. It was an outcome of Vancouver’s decision to proclaim 2014 the Year of Reconciliation, a declaration that has received widespread attention across Canada.