Nisga'a Christmas tradition lights up suspension bridge in memory of lost loved ones

A 121-metre suspension bridge in a small Nisga'a village in northwest B.C. has been lit up in memory of loved ones as part of a recent Christmas tradition aimed at helping community members dealing with loss over the holiday season.

The annual event started in 2013 following the death of 20-year-old Paulina Faith Robinson of Gitwinksihlkw, one of four Nisga'a villages in the Nass River Valley north of Terrace.

Robinson was a youth worker, teaching assistant and basketball player who died in Oct. 2013. According to her friend Lena Griffin, after Robinson's death, many people didn't feel like engaging in the usual holiday celebrations as Christmas approached.

"Everybody was feeling the change," Griffin told CBC Daybreak North host Carolina de Ryk.

"In her 20 years she had touched so many lives, so when she passed our entire nation felt the void."  

During that time, Griffin and a friend saw a photo of the annual Capilano Suspension Bridge light up in North Vancouver and decided they'd like to do the same in Gitwinksihlkw to honour Robinson's memory.

Gitwinksihlkw is home to a suspension bridge that crosses the Nass River, so the pair put the call out on Facebook for lights to help decorate it.

"We thought, 'Wow, we have a suspension bridge, let's do it,'" Griffin said. "Let's help bring some light back into our community."

Listen to a full interview with Griffin

The first year, only about half of the bridge was lit up, but Griffin said that wasn't the point.

"It wasn't about how many lights or how many colours, it really was about the community pulling together," she said. 

Donations came in from all four Nisga'a villages and the next year, they received even more. Now, the entire bridge is lit up for the fifth iteration of what has become an annual event to honour Robinson and other lost loved ones, from grandparents to siblings to beloved pets. 

Griffin said the new tradition helps bring people together at a time that can be difficult for many.

She said a commonly-used phrase among the Nisga'a is "Sayt-K'ilim-Goot" which translates to "One heart, one path, one nation," something she feels when she sees the bridge all lit up.

"When I see those lights and I walk across that bridge I feel Sayt-K'ilim-Goot, I feel unity and my heart is just bursting with the community spirit that made it possible," she said.

"This, I hope, helps illuminate the holidays in some way and provides some solace, even for a moment."

The lights will stay on until Jan. 3 and then turned off until Feb. 22 for Hobiyee, the Nisga'a New Year.

With files from Nicole Oud