Totem Pole Ceremony – Opitsaht, Meares Island

Last summer, members of the House of Ewos from the Tla-o-qui-aht Nation, and many invited guests, raised a totem pole at the ancient village of Opitsaht on Meares Island for the first time since 1993. Prior to colonization, each house in the village, located just across from Tofino, would have had up to four totem poles in front of them. Today, with the addition of this new pole, three now stand in total in the village.

The pole was created by Tla-o-qui-aht master carver Joe Martin and a team of helpers. The top crest is a female thunderbird, representing female ancestry & connection to the supernatural. Eagle down was placed in the talons and could be seen blowing in the breeze.

The totem also bears four ominous skulls representing the multiple pandemics and losses the Nation has faced. These include COVID-19, tuberculosis & smallpox, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples, and the Residential School System and the children who never came home from them.

The population of Tla-o-qui-aht Nation was about 10,000 strong when the first Europeans arrived. In the year 1900, there were only 122 survivors. Without their consent, colonial governments used this to take control of the wealth of natural resources on their unceded territory.

Today, the logging industry has destroyed well over 90% of the old-growth forests with the biggest trees in BC and continues to aggressively target old-growth cedar in particular. Without monumental cedars, it’s impossible to make canoes and totem poles, resulting in a loss of Indigenous culture.

Known as the ‘Tree of Life’, there are thousands of ways cedar plays a role in the lives and culture of First Nations people. Trees would never be felled during spring or summer months as great respect was paid to any nesting birds or denning animals in the area.

Ensuring that old-growth forests are protected, while still allowing for select trees to be used for cultural purposes, will help preserve the diversity of life — both human and non-human — that depend on them.

TJ Watt with support from the Trebek Initiative