VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 29, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday, Cheena is honouring their ancestral ties to 1850’s British Columbian pioneer and HBC fur trader, Adam Grant Horne, as well as his great-granddaughter, artist Georgina Abrams-Lytton. As direct descendants, Cheena founder Wayne Lytton and his son Shawn—Cheena’s current president—are proud to highlight their Canadian heritage by introducing a double smoked wild salmon “peppered candy” packaged in a limited edition ‘Canada’s 150 Years’ gift box.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e052af4a-6961-4ec6-9361-ff831eb513ce
Horne was a renowned explorer who had come from Edinburgh via the Orkney Islands in 1851 to sign up with the Hudson’s Bay Company in Victoria. He worked at the HBC trading post at Fort Victoria and Fort Simpson after which he was given the task of running the Nanaimo HBC in 1853. During this time he forged a trusting relationship with the local First Nations people and was directed by HBC to lead an exploration into the interior of Vancouver Island.
Born in Union Bay on Vancouver Island in October of 1910, Abrams-Lytton took an interest to coastal art at an early age. In the mid 1950’s, after refining her talents and developing her style, she and a business partner from Haida Gwaii established “Kla How Ya Crafts.” Together they compiled research of significant cultural aspects, before Abrams-Lytton completed the painting herself, giving her work a rare quality of Canadian authenticity.
Inspired by his ancestor’s West Coast exploits and his mother’s artwork, Wayne Lytton founded his business based on the concept of producing genuine British Columbian products using homegrown raw materials. Taking on the Haida name Cheena—meaning ‘Silvery Salmon’—with a Haida designed logo, Lytton launched his Canadian smoked salmon company in Vancouver in 1978. Thirty-nine years later and under Shawn’s leadership the company continues to produce the high quality products it has become known for, as well as developing a variety of innovative Canadian food products, all the while maintaining their unique Canadian identity.
The newly designed gift box features an 1859 photo of Adam Horne with his wife Elizabeth, next to a vivid water colour painting of a Haida war canoe by Georgina Abrams-Lytton. “We wanted to showcase our company’s personal connection to Pacific West Coast history, and have this reflected in our product,” says Wayne Lytton. He adds, “As we celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, we can feel a sense of gratification for our history and how it makes British Columbia such a distinct and appealing place.”