Prince George, B.C. – Today is World Rivers Day and it also marks the conclusion of Culture Days celebrations in Canada.

The 2015 Bank of Gratitude celebration is being held on the banks of the Fraser River today to recognize and honour the important role the river plays in the lives of Prince George and its residents.  The celebration is providing an opportunity to build upon the goodwill created between the public and the Lheidli T’enneh during the Canada Winter Games and also provides a venue for those taking part to create artworks inspired by feelings generated by the Fraser River.

The celebration is taking place just off River Road on the river bank below the CN rail bridge.  It begins with opening ceremonies at 10 am today, includes snacks and children’s activities and closes at 2 pm.

Co-host and eco-spiritual artist Danielea Castell says the Bank of Gratitude celebration is about “making our relationship with water conscious and sacred, beginning with gratitude.”  She says she created the event in the summer of 2013.  “I came back from the tar sands where I had been given a question, how do we bring the sacred back into our relationship with water and oil?  I came back from the tar sands to find out that, after twelve years of the B.C. Rivers Day music festival happening in Prince George, I came back to discover it wasn’t happening.”

“And so because of my bond with the river I said hey, we need to have a celebration.  So I said I’m going to invite the public into my own art practice, which is simply sitting and meditating with a river and then making some form of art after that experience.”   The period from 10:30 am to 12 noon is set aside for quiet time with the river to allow for that meditation and creation of whatever form of artwork a person is inspired to create.

Castell says “one of the water gratitude tools that I came up with is something called a Tap Bracelet.  Essentially it is a beaded bracelet with a pendant which you wrap around your water tap to help you remember to say “thank you” to water.  The Department of Fisheries and Oceans are the community liaison in Prince George and the department sponsors the materials for these bracelets and then we get them made by the community.   And then for people who complete their time on the (river) bank in the morning, the solo meditation and gratitude time, they get a beautiful bracelet to take home to put on their water tap.  It helps keep the message going that our relationship with water can be fed continuously.”