A totem pole being repatriated to Bella Coola’s Nuxalk territory is expected to arrive in Williams Lake on Wednesday, Feb. 15.
Carved by Nuxalk Chief Louie Snuxyaltwa (Snow) in the mid 1880s, the pole was in the Royal BC Museum in Victoria for decades.
Williams Lake First Nation will be hosting a ceremony at the Elizabeth Grouse Gymnasium beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Tl’etinqox First Nation (Anaham) has also invited the Nuxalk delegation to stop at the community on Thursday, Feb. 16 for a quick ceremony before proceeding along Highway 20.
Coun. Cecil Grinder said the Nuxalk totem pole will get to meet his community’s totem pole that stands outside the store at Tl’etinqox.
Grinder is inviting all of the Ts’ilhqot’in Nation to attend.
“This will be a powerful event between our nations,” he said.
A convoy of Nuxalk members attended ceremonies in Victoria on Monday, Feb. 13 when the totem pole was released from the Royal B.C. Museum.
READ MORE: Nuxalk chief ‘teary-eyed’ as totem pole removed from Royal B.C. Museum
READ MORE: Coming home: A history of the Nuxalk totem and its return to Bella Coola
monica.lamb-yorski@wltribune.com
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