The ancestral home of Tseshaht First Nation in the Broken Group Islands will be showcased in a reality TV show shot in six of Canada’s national parks and historic sites.
Called Operation Unplugged, the Travel Escape Channel series separates eight “self-confessed technology junkies” from their laptops, smartphones and gaming consoles and challenges them to experience some of Canada’s most breathtaking locations.
The concluding episode, which airs on March 27, was shot last August on Benson Island in Pacific Rim National Park, assisted by a team of Tseshaht members, and was steeped in Nuu-chah-nulth culture and tradition.
“It was an amazing experience. It had a profound effect on the cast,” said Angela Donald of GlassBOX Television, which produced the series. “We were very lucky to work with the Tseshaht. This was, in effect, the climax of the series.”
Tseshaht research and planning associate Darrell Ross said he was approached by Matthew Payne of Parks Canada about shooting an episode in Tseshaht traditional territory.
“We did a lot of different planning. The Tseshaht Beachkeepers, who are employed by Parks Canada, were very much involved,” Ross said. “We brought a whole bunch of Tseshaht down there for some traditional activities. It was very successful from our standpoint. The acknowledgement of who the Tseshaht people are was very important for us as a people.”
Payne, whose wife, Nanaste Marsden, is a member of Gitxsan First Nation with relatives in Port Alberni, said Parks Canada has learned the value of working with First Nations to promote national parks and historic sites.
“When we knew we were going to the birthplace of Tseshaht, we had to make sure we got all the protocols right,” Payne said, adding that the TV series has taken that cooperation to a new level.
While the competition itself is still under wraps, what is no secret is that it involved canoeing, using the new Tseshaht deep-sea canoe, according to Tseshaht sports and recreation coordinator Tyrone Marshall.
“Darrell asked me how confident I would be on screen and how confident I am with my paddling skills,” Marshall said. “I said I didn’t mind being on TV, because I had some coverage with last year’s Pulling Together Journey. That was my first time skippering in the canoe in the open ocean.”
Marshall said the Tseshaht canoe has provided an opportunity for members to connect with their ocean-going heritage. For Operation Unplugged, it was to be a crash course for the technology-obsessed.
“There were YouTube addicts, there was one who called herself Facebook Sweetheart, there was a gamer who, I think, still lived with his mom. There was a girl (Alana) who was addicted to texting–she would sit there texting while you were talking to her,” Marshall said. “But they didn’t have any technology when they were out there with us.”
Alana Obey, from Regina, Sask., is the single First Nations person in Operation Unplugged. Obey now lives in Vancouver, and, according to the producers, was receiving up to 500 text messages a day when she took the challenge to give up her cell phone.
Donald said what sets the series apart from much of reality TV is that Operation Unplugged is less about the competition and more about the journey.
“The journey was to make them understand their obsession with technology a little bit more, that there was some betterment in not being attached by the hip to their devices,” Donald said. “Our hope was to awaken them, and that is what happened to them on the journey.”
Ross said the lesson is, there is a whole different world out there if you are willing to look up from your computer screen or your smartphone, and Canada’s national parks are one of the best windows on our natural world.
But there is something to be said for using technology to record those wilderness experiences, Ross added. That lesson was brought home when the Tseshaht team landed to set up the Operation Unplugged base at the site of the traditional whaling village on Benson Island.
“Just when we were preparing to beach, a humpback whale was jumping right across the pass. He must have jumped 40 or 50 times. It was quite awesome. It was like a welcoming party for Tseshaht,” Ross said.
Despite the no-technology theme of the event, Tseshaht members recorded the whale on video,
“And I think my son YouTubed it,” he added.
Donald said that is the lesson of Operation Unplugged. By all means, share your experiences via technology. But don’t allow the technology to deflect you from having the experience.
“We had people who had allowed themselves to be bound by their devices, and at the end, some of them said, ‘I had no idea all this was out there. Now I want to go camping and I want to go hiking.’”
Episodes of Operation Unplugged can be downloaded online 24 hours after they are broadcast, at travelandescape.ca. Select “Shows” and click on Operation Unplugged. The Travel and Escape Channel is 128 on the cable dial.
