House Post Welcoming

It was meaningful for Brad to see the posts make their way to a place that meant so much to him and his three older brothers, who also graduated from Shawnigan.

 

“Shawnigan is something very close to my heart,” he said. “The School has been a big influence on my art. I still think about some of the teachers and the things and values that they taught me.”

 

The poles are about 90 percent finished, and Brad began working on the rest of the project alongside members of the Shawnigan community almost immediately. Once they are finished, Brad’s family will assist with the installation.

 

The house posts have a unique story. They are replicas of two posts that were carved in 1910 by Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw artist Johnny Kla-wat-chi for Chief Billy Assu – Brad’s great-grandfather and a respected leader of the We Wai Kai. In the 1930s, the posts were removed and shipped to the museum in Ottawa that is now known as the National Museum of History.

 

In 2012, the Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre in Cape Mudge, where Brad’s father, Don, was President, began negotiating with the National Museum of History for the return of the house posts. With the idea that they could offer replica totems to the museum as part of the negotiations, Brad and his friend Ted McKellar began carving reproductions.

 

In 2015, Brad travelled to Ottawa to take photos and measurements of some of the intricate details of the posts. While there, he was asked why the community didn’t raise the replicas instead of exchanging them for the originals.

 

As he explained in his chapter of the book Knowledge Within: Treasures of the West Coast, “Billy Assu believed in the power and beauty of our traditions and culture and the important role both of these things play in creating a healthy, balanced, and prosperous community for everyone. To leave his poles in Ottawa was akin to ignoring his strength and resolve.”

 

Before Brad left Ottawa, the museum determined that it would return the house posts to the We Wai Kai, and the posts were repatriated in 2015. The museum declined the offer of the replicas, and Brad decided to donate them to the School.

 

As the woodworking instructor, Mr. Bartlett learned a great deal about totem poles from Brad on the trip to Quadra Island – something he was able to reflect on during the Regenerative Futures Conference Shawnigan hosted this week.

 

“One of the things that I did not expect to discover was the fate of some totem poles, which are left to be taken back by the land,” Mr. Bartlett related. “If they have fallen, they may be recovered, or on the say-so of the chief, the pole may be offered back to the Earth. As a carver, Brad noted the gravity of leaving the pole, the symbolism and the many, many hours of careful designing and crafting of the unique forms, only to have them return home. The chief does not take the decision lightly, and yet the carver must respect and accept this transience.

 

“As I tailed the week with the Regenerative Futures Conference I appreciated and connected more with cycles, loss and renewal. It deepened my gratitude for Brad – not only the gift of these incredible manifestations of his culture and heritage, but also his kindness in sharing his knowledge and connections within his community. I look forward to continuing to work and learn with Brad as this project expands and takes a timely place here at Shawnigan.”