Return of Nuxalk totem pole is like a loved one coming home, kid says

Dec 31, 2023

When 10-year-old Zelia Snow saw her community's totem pole returned, she had a feeling that was hard to describe.

Why? Because she said it was like seeing a loved one return home after being lost.

A sacred totem pole of the Nuxalk Nation was returned to the community near Bella Coola, British Columbia, after spending more than 100 years in the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria.

"Say you had a cat and it got lost for a while … and it got returned. That's how it would feel, but a lot specialer," Zelia said.

For her, that special feeling was present in a ceremony on Feb. 20 at Acwsalcta School in Bella Coola, where more than 200 members of the Nuxalk Nation gathered to welcome the pole home.

Community members said the museum never had permission to take the totem pole and that it belonged with its people.

According to Hereditary Chief Snuxyaltwa (Deric Snow), his great-grandfather, Louie Snow, carved the pole in the 19th or early 20th century.

It is approximately five metres high and one metre wide.

It was placed outside the family longhouse, an Indigenous home — that is, until it ended up in the museum.

Although there are many different kinds of totem poles, they are typically described as living monuments.

They are created by First Nations people of the Pacific Northwest to represent things such as family, history, people or events.

According to Louie Snow's ancestors, his spirit remained inside the totem pole and could not be at rest until it was returned home.

"Our history is embedded in these poles, a great history, and when they’re taken, it's almost as if it's like our children were taken," Nuxalk member Charlene Schooner told The Canadian Press.

The totem pole went missing in the late 1800s after members of the Nuxalk Nation moved from where they were living to avoid a smallpox outbreak.

It was later found in the Royal B.C. Museum.

In a written statement, a museum spokesperson told CBC Kids News that its records show that the totem pole "was removed from a burial site and that it came to the museum in 1913. The museum paid $45 for it at that time."

That would be approximately $1,000 today.

The Nuxalk community disagreed with the claim that the pole was purchased — they said their community would never sell something so important.

Members of the Nuxalk Nation repeatedly asked for the pole to be returned and filed a lawsuit against the museum to return it.

The museum had the pole on display until last year in its Totem Hall.

According to its website, the museum has a team dedicated to repatriation, which is "the return of First Nations ancestral belongings to their community of origin."

The museum told CBC Kids News that repatriation is "extremely important and necessary for reconciliation."

The museum has acknowledged that taking cultural objects is harmful.

The journey back to the community was a long one. It even involved a crane!

Because of the pole's size, walls and windows of the museum had to be removed, and a crane lifted it out.

The museum said the process "involved a large project team of engineers, conservationists as well as other internal and external experts."

The pole travelled by truck and ferry from Victoria, through the interior of the province toward Bella Coola. The entire journey took about a week.

The totem pole will be on display at the school's entrance for 12 months before it's moved to a permanent location on traditional territory.

As her community members celebrated the return, Zelia reflected on what the return should mean to Canadians.

She said it should be seen as a symbol that "if something was taken from your territory, you could always try to get it back."

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With files from Georgie Smyth, Kathryn Marlow, Courtney Dickson/CBC, The Canadian Press

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated the totem pole went missing in the late 1900s. It went missing in the late 1800s.