DiscoverTotems

Carved by: Martin Sparrow (Musqeaum First Nation) , Joe Bolton (Tsimshian) and students from the Tupper Secondary School community.

Located at: 49°14'58.65"N 123° 5'45.01"W

This pole was raised on June 13th, 2007 in memory of Jomar Lanot, a teen-ager beaten to death after fleeing a group of youths who challenged one of his friends to a fight, then racially taunted them. The Filipino teen was walking home on Nov. 28, 2003, with three friends after playing basketball when they were confronted by 11 to 15 youths outside Sir Charles Tupper Secondary School in Vancouver.

You can read more about Jomar at http://www.familiesagainstcrime.org/memorial/jomarl.html

These Canadian Totems designed by Carey Newman for the Lantern Forest Installation at Granville and Georgia.  The Lantern Forest consists of 40 steel trees with thousands of lanterns decorated by school children erected right on the 700 block of
Granville Street. Co-presented by Cultural Olympiad and Asian-Canadian Special Events Association, the 2nd Annual LunarFest will take place from Jan 22 to Feb 28, on
Granville Street in downtown Vancouver, between
Georgia Street and Robson Street, welcoming the arrival of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and ushering in a new Lunar New Year tradition in Vancouver.

Built to be one of the legacy events for Vancouver 2010's Cultural Olympiad, LunarFest is a free public event that celebrates the tradition with creative art forms of lanterns, promising to pierce Vancouver's winter gloom. The glowing constellations of 2010 lanterns designed by the children of the world in Lantern Forest, together with the world's first Totem Lanterns with Canadian and Taiwanese indigenous designs, and 10 professional artists preparing to interact with the public with their outdoor lantern installations called "Love, Life and Light", will jointly form one of the brightest spots in Vancouver.  Illustration artists of "Save Beany, Save Earth" and "The Umbrella Girl" will tell their stories to the world via an outdoor LED screen.

The day after the opening ceremonies of the Winter Games, LunarFest will ring in the Lunar New Year.

On Feb 13th and 14th, Welcoming the Majestic Tiger will feature many cultural celebrations of the Lunar New Year, including performances from Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese communities.

On both nights, people are welcome to bring their own lanterns, DIY a lantern or get a Tiger Lantern hat on site to join a magical lantern procession organized by Public Dreams Society. LunarFest is easily accessible by Canada Line Sky train at the Vancouver City Centre station.

Audience also has a chance to win a trip to see the world's largest lantern festival in Taiwan. Click here to enter contest, http://www.lunarfest.org/contests/taiwan-lantern-festival

For more details about LunarFest, please visit: lunarfest.org

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The City of Vancouver is named after the famous British navigator, Captain George Vancouver, R.N., who in 1792 named and explored Burrard Inlet, on whose shore the city stands.In April 1792, Vancouver arrived off the shores of what was to become British Columbia. Sailing through the Strait of Jaun de Fuca, he began a detailed survey of the coast which was to occupy him until his departure for England late in 1794. Captain Vancouver was not the first white man to visit the site of the future city. That distinction goes to two Spanish navigators, Narvaez and Verdia, who were on the scene a year earlier.
At the time of Captain Vancouver's visit, at least three Indian villages exisited within the city limits. These were Kokopai at Locarno Beach, Snaq on the sea front at Kitsilano, and Whoi-Whoi, close to Lumberman's Arch in Stanley Park. To these should be added the Indian village of Musqueam, still very much alive on the city's southwestern outskirts, and another village at the mouth of the Capilano River.
excerpted from 1001 British Columbia Place Names by G.P.V. & Helen B. Akrigg, Discovery Press 1969

Map of Vancouver as charted by Captain George Vancouver from http://www.navy.gc.ca/project_pride/all_images/photo_archive_images/Larg...

Photo: Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press from CTVOlympics.ca 

In downtown Vancouver adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth Theater,  there will be a C$3.5m 8,000-square foot Aboriginal Pavilion, a multi-media centre displaying aboriginal art, business, culture and sport to visitors throughout the Games. According to an article on the CTV website, pavillion will be opening with a series of performances on Feb 12th. The building is part Coast Salish long house and part circular pit houses of the interior and includes a giant inflatable multimedia dome. For a $25 cover charge, guests can enter the Jack Poole Reception Hall and be served a platter of modern and traditional Aboriginal food. Chef Andrew George and his team have been working on the menu.

Related articles:

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/about-vancouver/news/newsid=26635.html

http://www.firstperspective.ca/index.php/news/449-aboriginal-canadians-d...
View Vancouver 2010 Venues in a larger map http://www.fourhostfirstnations.com/pavilion

Download the 2010 Aboriginal Pavilion Fact Sheet

This month's project is locating all the publicly-accessible totem poles along the Sunshine Coast and adding a new section for the Sunshine Coast to the "Book of Totems" section of this site.

So I'll be trolling up the Coast starting in Gibsons, Gibsons Landing, Robert's Creek, Sechelt, Half Moon Bay and upto the Skookumchuck Narrows researching and documenting the Coast line.  I've placed two geocaches already at locations in Sechelt that should be activated shortly as part of a larger Sunshine Coast MultiPuzzle to coincide with the 2010 Olympics. 

So if you know of any authentic aboriginal poles along the coast that are in publicly accessible locations (aka not on private property) - Drop us a note on the contact page and give me directions and any information you might have about the carver, the images, and the origins of the pole. 

Photo: Group of 5 poles at the Tsain-Ko Village Shopping Centre in Sechelt

View Sunshine Coast Totems in a larger map

Totem poles have gone digital just in time for the Olympics.  On a very rainy Vancouver day pre-Olympics, I drove over the Burrard Bridge and, while paused on the South side of the bridge at the stop light, I snapped a couple of quick pictures of the newly installed Squamish Nations' Digital Billboard glowing in the gloomy gray background.

It's warm red glow flashing historical Squamish sports images, local scenes, interdispersed with a few crass ads for Rogers Cable - seem almost tasteful in comparison with all the crass Olympic green and blue sponsorship ads that are now appearing everywhere including on the local mattress company claiming to being supplying 'sleep' to all the olympic atheletes on the side of all their delivery vans.

This and the other 5 digital billboards were a huge controversy when originally announced by the Squamish Nation. They decided to erect six digital billboards on their land. Four  on the North Shore -- three on Highway 1 near the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge and one on Marine Drive near the Lions Gate Bridge. Of the two others, this one at the south end of the Burrard Bridge and one near the Stawamus Chief hiking area near Squamish. 

Vancouver city councilors wisely stood aside and let the Squamish Nation erect the billboards on their band lands rather than cave to a few offended So as the Olympic organizers continue to splash their own special blend of co-opted totemic designs across the landscape on every other available billboard, I'll gladly watch the Squamish digital billboard flash it's television-like images every six times a minute. At least, the Squamish Nations had the decency to throw in a few interesting and educational images for us to gaze at rather than a bottle of coke or a mattress. 

Related Articles:

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Paradise+desecrated+sign+times/2113842/...

http://www.vancouver2010.com/aboriginal-participation/

Yet another unexpected and bordering-on-ridiculous re-use of the totem pole motif in these stackable coffee mugs was emailed to me today. Created to celebrate the indigenous creative tradition of totem carving, the mugs were designed by Toronto-based artist Rob Southcott. Southcott presents a modern interpretation of an early Native American tradition, this series of stacking cups observes the First Nation's custom of totem pole carving. Rob Southcott works as a furniture, product, and interior designer. He specializes in the conceptualization of new ideas and the developmental process of product design. His works have been exhibited internationally and have been featured in numerous publications worldwide.

 Available online at the rolostore.com

Related Link: http://www.nylonmag.com/?section=article&parid=4025

World Premiere of the Musical "Beyond Eden" on January 16th at Vancouver Playhouse. Written by Bruce Ruddell and directed by Dennis Garnhum presented as part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad

Here's the synopsis: " In the abandoned Haida village of Ninstints stand totem poles. They have stood there for decades. Lewis Wilson and his long-time friend and colleague Max Tomson are on an expedition to rescue these totem poles and save them from their waterlogged, beetle-infested and fragile condition. On their journey both men struggle: Wilson with his authority and resistance to removing the poles; Max to find his place between the white world and his Haida ancestry."

For more information: http://www.vancouverplayhouse.com/current-season/2009/beyond-eden.php

The Bill Reid Gallery's admission price is just $10 and for that price you cannot find a better way to spend a few rainy hours in downtown Vancouver. The current exhibition "Continuum: Vision and Creativity on the Northwest Coast" runs until January 31st and is included in the admission.

{In honor of Bill Reid's birthday (January 12th), there is a 20% discount on admission to Bill Reid Gallery in Downtown Vancouver (Jan 12-17) all week! Make sure to take advantage! http://bit.ly/72y6j6 }

The current exhibits highlights include a wonderful mask by Moe Sutherland entitled "The Neogiator" lampooning the current and past talks which besides munching on $5 bills includes a dangling golden carrot.  The two Sechelt-based brothers, Dean and Shawn Hunt each have outstanding pieces included that incorporate humor and showcase their many talents.  Perhaps the most interesting piece is the multimedia piece entitled "Becoming Tsimshian" by Philip Gray which includes an great example of a traditional mask and is accompanying stop-motion animation video of the stages in its creation from block of wood, to completed work in under 3 minutes.

The Gallery is named after Bill Reid (1920 – 1998), the acclaimed Haida master goldsmith, carver, sculptor, writer, spokesman and one of Canada’s greatest artists. It is an excellant way to get a good  understanding and appreciating contemporary Aboriginal art of the Northwest Coast Art. Take the time to watch the Historical footage of Reid from 1954 through 1998 presented by CBC and you'll walk away with a better understanding of the art that is on our $20 bill. 

Other gallery Highlights include over 40 pieces of Bill Reid’s gold and silver jewelry, Reid’s bronze masterpiece Mythic Messengers, several of Reid’s works that are featured on the Canadian $20 bill and a full-scale totem pole, carved by James Hart of Haida Gwaii.This gallery is named after Bill Reid (1920 – 1998), the acclaimed Haida master goldsmith, carver, sculptor, writer, spokesman and one of Canada’s greatest artists.

Related Article: http://www.straight.com/article-240608/ancient-and-new-blur-work

I love the idea of how aboriginal art is interwoven into the very fabric of Vancouver. The entire city is built on native land, Stanley Park was originally a village site with piles of oyster shells building up on the beaches, and when you round the corner onto Cypress Street in Kits heading towards the beach - sitting proudly at the end of the avenue - you see this stunning 100 Foot High Centennial Pole that was placed and dedicated at a ceremony on October 15, 1958 as a memorial to British Columbia's Centennial Year. The Pole is an exact replica of one carved for Queen Elizabeth II by Chief Mungo Martin of the Kwakiutl Nation. Each Figure on the pole represents a Mythical ancestor of the ten tribes of the Kwakiutl nation. I imagine what it must be like to live in one of the houses on this street where everyday you see this out your windows as part of your ongoing routines: a reminder of past lives, heroic stories, and the binding interconnected ties to the diverse communities that make up Vancouver.

So the next time you drive thru Kits, stop by and take a closer look