The Nuxalk Nation totem pole was stolen and sold to a museum. After waiting 110 years, they finally got it back

CNN
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A totem pole removed from an Indigenous burial site over a century ago and housed in a Canadian museum has been repatriated to the Nuxalk Nation.

Over 100 Nuxalkmc have run over 600 miles from Bella Coola, British Columbia, to Victoria to collect their totem pole from the Royal BC Museum on Monday and return it to its rightful home.

As the totem pole was taken out of the museum and lowered to the ground, its first time returning to Mother Earth, Nuxalkmc sang the Thunder Song – followed by women blessing and awakening the spirit of the totem.

“We all cried when he landed on the ground,” Nuxalk Hereditary Chief Deric Snow told CNN. “It was the feeling when your emotions reach the climax of your life. I never imagined we would be able to do this.

The totem was carved in the mid-1800s by Snow’s great-grandfather, Snuxyaltwa Louie Snow, whose spirit remains in the totem and will not be at rest until he returns to his home ancestral, said the chief.

“The people who carved their totem poles were so spiritual, they were chosen to be carvers, they asked the tree to give itself to them before carving it, they had visions of what to put in it “Snow said. “Everything in the Royal BC Museum is sacred because they were created by gifted people and their spirit is still within them.”

The totem pole, which served as the entrance pole to the longhouse and later as a burial pole, was removed from a burial site and sold to the museum in 1913 for 45 Canadian dollars, according to museum records. The pole was one of many artifacts left behind when the smallpox epidemic drove Indigenous peoples from their homelands in 1900, according to Snow.

As tradition says the sculptor’s spirit remains in their totem pole forever, keeping it in a museum for 110 years means Snow’s great-grandfather’s spirit was trapped in a gallery room. , Snow said.

“For us, museums are like the boarding schools where our children were killed,” Snow said. “They have human remains in the Royal BC museum, and the spirits of those human remains are there. It’s a type of pain that we can’t put into our words.

During his fight to recover the totem from the museum – along with a second totem and a war canoe that he says his great-grandfather also carved – Snow lost his wife, brother and sister in 2022.

“It was a very difficult time and we weren’t supposed to do any work,” Snow said. “But we got through it by remembering who we’re doing it for and doing it with love. I know my wife is in heaven smiling and rejoicing with us. ”

Snow first requested the totem’s repatriation after seeing it at the museum in 2019. After years of discussions, he filed a lawsuit against the museum in February 2022 in hopes of expediting its return.

“The museum is committed to repatriating the pole in 2019, but this particular case presented challenges that lengthened the process,” the Royal BC Museum told CNN. “There was a diligent process to confirm ownership and the need to create a plan to remove the post on the third floor of the museum. Covid-19 also caused a delay.

The museum said staff worked closely with Snow “to create a secure plan for the removal of the First Peoples Gallery pole,” which involved a team of engineers, conservationists and experts.

“We will continue conversations regarding other properties with the Nuxalk Nation as soon as we are able to do so,” the museum said, adding that they have repatriation requests from 30 other indigenous tribes in the province.

A convoy of more than 60 cars followed the vehicle carrying the totem on its 14-hour return journey. During the trip, the Nuxalkmc stopped to visit seven other First Nations tribes so they could see the totem and feel its energy. and bless him with a bow of sage and cedar.

“Totem poles tell you everything about your life and why you are here on Mother Earth. We are here to live but also to be the voice of all life,” Snow said. “We speak on behalf of every living being on Mother Earth, including water, air, mountains, the entire animal kingdom, and every nation remembers this just by walking past them with a totem.”

Some of the tribes also welcomed the Nuxalkmc, celebrating with feasts, songs, drums and dances to honor the awakened spirit and rejoice in the victory of the totem’s return.

“This is the beginning,” Trevor Mack, a member of the Tsilhqot’in Nation who attended one of the celebrations during the pole trip, told CNN. “Museums in the Western world – whether in Victoria, Chicago, New York, London, Paris – will have to be prepared for items stolen from their display cases to be called home, in their place.”

While the healing process for Indigenous peoples includes the repatriation of all that has been taken from them, celebrations like those inspired by the return of the totem pole are equally important.

Its impact was visible in the laughter and shouts of the hundreds of tribal members who came to honor the pole’s journey to Williams Lake First Nation in Secwepemc territory, one of the tribes the convoy visited along the way.

The celebration began outside with two fires lit as elderly tribal women blessed everyone with a healing song. They then took fur bows and blessed the pole while the elders drummed.

“As we were drumming the welcome song, the elderly women of our nation suddenly stood up, unasked, and started doing the welcome dance,” the First Nation chief told CNN. of Williams Lake, Willie Sellars. “It broke me. It got very emotional for a lot of people because we don’t see these things happen often.

“The legacy and history of residential schools and the trauma inflicted on my ancestors and elders who are still alive today has never left us,” he added. “To see them still able to keep our traditions alive and pass them on from generation to generation makes you so proud to be Indigenous.

Recently, most large gatherings in Indigenous communities have been for funerals, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has ravaged Indigenous communities that have struggled to obtain resources and medical care.

For so many different tribes, coming together in joyous celebrations rather than mourning, Sellars said, was a “moment that meant everything.” It was also a reminder of what life was like for their ancestors before so much was taken from them.

“Historically, we came together as nations and celebrated, until we were no longer allowed to hold ceremonies, speak our language or sing our songs,” Sellars said. “It’s so emotional because it means we’re finally heading in the right direction. This totem is a beacon of hope for all of us.

The following day, the pole was blessed by elders from the Tsilhqot’in community of Tl’etinqox. Then the pole and convoy traveled a snowy mountain road back to Bella Coola.

The totem pole will be at the Acwsalcta School on the Bella Coola reservation until a final ceremony to reawaken Snow’s great-grandfather is held on May 5, 2024, in honor of his late wife. on this date last year. The totem pole will then be returned to its original site in South Bentinck.

“Every time something comes back to us, we get more and more of our stories back,” Snow said. “It is time for the Canadian government to see us as people. They all know what was stolen and they have to return what they took.