First Nation awakens totem pole in their traditional winter

In the past the Mowachaht/Muchalaht sought refuge in Tahsis, now they look ahead with the coast guard to protect their people on

By Eric Plummer Ha-Shilth-Sa Editor

Tahsis, BC - On a rainyApril morning in the Village of Tahsis, voices from the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation broke through the downpour with traditional song, reminding the crowd that their ancestors occupied the remote coastal site for thousands of years.

OnApril 6 the Canadian Coast Guard formally recognized this heritage when two artworks were unveiled at its Tahsis station: a totem pole carved by Sanford Williams and a conference room door bearing the carvings and painting of PatrickAmos. Presentation of the pieces, which were both made by Mowachaht/Muchalaht members, served as another nod to the continued partnership between the First Nation and the coast guard, which is tasked with ensuring safety in the surrounding waters of Nootka Sound.

Completed in 2020, the Tahsis Coast Guard station was among a wave of four facilities that were opened by the federal department to better serve the B.C. coast, with other sites established in Prince Rupert, Port Renfrew and Victoria.At the end of the Tahsis Inlet, the coast guard station works in communication with the Nootka Lighthouse, which has stood at the mouth of the sound since 1911 in the traditional Mowachaht/Muchalaht village of Yuquot.

The coast guard station came to Tahsis after consistent lobbying from the First Nation.

“We realized that the coast guard is a significant service to the region, particularly Mowachaht/Muchalaht,” said Tyee Ha’wilth Mike Maquinna. “We figured that Tahsis is a centralized place for those other areas that they need to serve.”

“They wanted it out in Friendly Cove, but there was not enough resources with transportation and fuel,” said Tom Mark, Mowachaht/Muchalaht’s coast guard liaison, referencing that Yuquot was initially considered for the location.

Now in operation, the Tahsis station presents employment opportunity for the First Nation, as a crew of half a dozen is available at the site at any given time.

“It’s opening doors for young people with training,” added Mark.

In recent years the First Nation’s collaboration with the coast guard became critical in the handling of a shipwreck that for over 50 years has sat 100 metres under the ocean’s surface by Bligh Island in Nootka Sound. In September of 2020 an oily sheen was discovered emerging from the site where the Schiedyk lies, an 8,700-tonne HollandAmerica freighter that hit a reef and sank on Jan. 3, 1968 after leaving from Tahsis the day before.

In close consultation with the Mowachaht/ Muchalaht, offshore booms and shoreline cleanup crews were employed to contain the spill. Using the expertise of the US-based Resolve Marine Group, by the

Mowachaht/Muchalaht members engage in a traditional practice to bless and awaken a

OnApril 6 the pole was unveiled at the Canadian Coast Guard station in Tahsis. summer of 2021 the remaining fuel was removed from the wreck, totalling 60 tonnes of heavy oil and diesel.Another 48,511 kilograms of oil and oily waste was recovered from the surrounding environment.

Guardian of the Land and Sea

On the rainyApril morning eagle down floated through the air like snow around the totem pole after its covering was removed at the station’s entrance, as Mowachaht/ Muchalaht elders blessed the piece with a brushing from eagle feathers and the blowing of a whistle. Such protocol is undertaken to solidify the totem’s place as an immovable object, explained elder Tony Dick.

“We have to bless it, wake it up, so nothing goes wrong,” he said. “That totem pole cannot be touched anymore, it cannot be moved, it is stuck there now. If it falls, it stays.”

Titled Guardian of the Land and Sea, the totem project was assigned to Sanford Williams in March of 2019. By that time a red cedar log had already washed up