Late last year, Klahowya readers saw the first photos of BC’s Lieutenant Governor Stephen Point working on a shovel-nosed river canoe.

In early April, Point was joined by friends and relations (including many from Stz’uminus and Snuneymuxw) in a traditional ceremony to launch the canoe, named Shxwtitostel, from the beach near his official home at Government House in Victoria. It was the same spot where Point found the log.

The formality of his office and his role as the representative of The Queen in BC was not apparent at the launch. The usual form of address for the lieutenant governor is “His Honour” and he usually wears the formal uniform of his office.

But most of the First Nation leaders and others in attendance called him “Stephen” and he wore a jogging suit and stripped down to shorts and a t-shirt for the launch.

“He’s so happy… like a little boy with a new toy,” one bystander said as the crowd watched Point paddle the canoe for the first time. Four 11-man racing canoes including Rainbow from Stz’uminus and Island Brave from Snuneymuxw accompanied him.

Also on hand for the launch was one of BC’s best-known carvers, Chief Tony Hunt. Point asked for Hunt’s help after he found the log on the waterfront more than one year ago.

"'Cause I'm not really a carver, right?" he told CBC News. "I'm just a guy that found a log on the beach and decided to make this canoe."

The name Point gave the canoe means a safe place to cross the river. He said finding, and finishing, the canoe was meant to be a bridge between cultures.

"I've had this belief for some time that if people see our world like a canoe – like we're together – we're not individuals in separate canoes. We're in the same canoe. It's called the Earth… the world.

“It's like we're traveling through space. We have to try and work together, paddle in the same direction. Maybe we can accomplish something."

The canoe has the eyes, scales and tail of the legendary monster in Chilliwack's Cultus Lake, which Point’s Sto:lo people called Slahkum. The sides of the canoe are engraved with Point's father's crest.

After the launch, Point said he planned to donate the canoe to the province. "It's going to go on a journey now. We're giving this to the people of British Columbia. We're presenting it to the government of B.C. as a gift to them from me and Tony."