Coming Home

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At sunrise on the morning of Sept. 23, the first day of autumn was greeted with a sunrise ceremony on the banks of the Fraser River. Following the ceremony, a totem pole was unveiled.

Coast Salish artist George Price carved the pole, which is titled Coming Home. It's purpose is to honor his father and mother, as well as to show respect and recognition to all Aboriginal women who married non-Native men and the children that suffered discrimination under Indian Act provisions that stripped them of their First Nations status.

"My deepest gratitude to Grand Chief Dr. Rose Charlie (who was present and witnessed the pole unveiling) and all women who fought for our Aboriginal ancestral rights through Bill C-31," said Price. He also showed his appreciation to the carvers and artists that assisted him in the making of the pole - Stan Greene, Kwestpelsp, Fred Price, Rocky Larock, Bert Peters and Audrey Deroy-Gagnon.

"There are two things about this pole," said Ron John, chief of Chawathil First Nation. "It is an honor of family and it stands representing Canada's shame over the government's taking away of a nationhood by telling people they didn't belong to a race.

"It is a very fitting testimony to a dark time of Canadian history. How can you tell another race they are no longer who they are?" he asked.

Dr. Rose Charlie is a Sto:lo from the Chehalis Band. She worked for 25 years to rectify the injustices that Aboriginal people suffered due to federal and provincial laws and policies limiting status. She was a board member of Indian Rights for Women and was at the frontlines in working towards the removal of discriminatory provisions from the Indian Act that took away First Nations women's rights and privileges because they had married non-status men. In 1985, thousands of Aboriginal women and their children regained their rights and privileges as First Nations people under Bill C-31.

Local MLA Harry Lali gave greetings on behalf of provincial Premier Ujjal Dosanjh and the government. Lali spoke about the "reawakening of traditional and Aboriginal cultures that is happening all throughout the world," and how within the last few decades there has been a reawakening of Aboriginal peoples in British Columbia.

There were about 300 people in attendance at the unveiling, with a special group of Aboriginal women joining the event when two large river rafts landed on the water's edge. They came from locations around the country and were paddling from Prince George to Vancouver as part of the Aboriginal Women's Action Network's "Journey for Justice."

The women have been rafting down the river leading rallies and doing workshops with women about the impact of poverty and violence in First Nations communities.

"We give lots of respect and honor you," said Terry Brown, a Tahltan spokeswoman for the group." We welcome you back into our community and wish that we could work together to rebuild our nation to become strong again."

The totem pole, which is in its natural color, features many crests to honor the totem spirit of many bands. There is a bear holding salmon, raven holding spindle whorl, wolf holding eagle talking stick, eagle holding sturgeon, woman holding child, and sasquatch holding canoe. In the canoe are four figures to represent the four races of humans. The tree the pole was carved from is more than 400 years old and was once struck by lightning.

"This has been a real touching moment for me today," said Audrey Deroy-Gagnon, an Anishnaabe and George Price's wife. "My mother went through the Bill C-31 process. Since the tree this pole was carved out of was hit by lightning and it recovered, it is a beautiful symbol of unity, acceptance and healing. This pole is so strong, it will pull any negative energy that is around and get rid of it."

The master of ceremonies for the day was Eddie Garner. He said the pole is a cedar tree, which is the tree of life for the Sto:lo Nation and also symbolizes cleansing.

The Canada Councilfor the Arts funded the pole through its Millennium Fund. Lakeside Forest Products supplied the old-growth red cedar tree.