By the beginning of October Kitimat will have a new 14-foot totem pole carved by a team of Haisla artists from Kitamaat Village.
At last week’s council meeting lead carver Garry Wilson presented an 18-inch model, known as a maquette, that he and his team of carvers will use as a reference while carving the pole.
What’s more, Kitimat residents and visitors to the town will get to watch the pole being carved - the District is aiming to have the carving done in a space rented specially for the project in City Centre Mall.
District Leisure Services deputy director Shaun O’Neill said the totem pole will be carved from a red cedar log nearly 20 feet tall, donated by logging company Brinkman, and has already been set aside for the project.
The log will be carefully manoeuvred into the space, where it will stay until the carving is completed and the totem is moved onto the site where it will be erected, on District land just below the new Haisla Centre, opposite Centennial Park.
Two thirds of the $36,000 for the project has already been secured through funding from Canada 150 and LNG Canada, the rest of the funding is to be provided by the Kitimat and Haisla First Nation’s councils, who will each contribute $8,000.
“We felt this is a good way to celebrate the relationship between Kitatmaat Village and Kitimat,” said O’Neill.
Wilson and his support carvers were nominated by the Haisla council following discussions between the two councils, to avoid the controversy that has dogged the existing totem pole in Centennial Park.
O’Neill said discussions between the District, the Gitxsan First Nation and Haisla First Nation as to the fate of the existing totem pole are ongoing and that a decision will be made within the next year.
Wilson, who was born in Kemano and grew up in Kitamaat Village, graduated from Emily Carr College of Art and Design before training as a master carver with his uncle, Henry Robertson.
“I started with a 37 foot totem pole in 1980, which is now in the Vancouver Friendship Centre,” said Wilson. “Carving monumental objects is the apex of any artist’s career.
It is the final section taught in the traditional style and design course, and spans generations in Haisla culture.”
The maquette Wilson presented to council consists of three sections - the bottom figure represents the District mayor, who holds a snowflake in his hand; the middle section consists of the number 150 with cedar bark rope in the backdrop to commemorate Canada 150; and the top figure is an eagle with a beaver on its chest, which represents the head clan of the Haisla people.
Wilson’s assistant carver Sam Shaw is self taught and specializes in canoe carving, knife making, wood carving and Northwest coast design.
A third carver will be appointed once carving starts.