A number of ceremonies in Victoria on Monday are marking the return of a totem pole to Bella Coola含羞草研究社檚 Nuxalk territory from the Royal B.C. Museum.

After a crowd watched a crane lower the totem pole from the upper levels of the museum, one of the Nuxalk hereditary chiefs who helped spur the repatriation said it will give them the opportunity to bring back their stories.

含羞草研究社淲e have to remind ourselves of who we are, where we come from, why we含羞草研究社檙e here on Mother Earth,含羞草研究社� said Snuxyaltwa (also known as Deric Snow).

含羞草研究社淭hank you guys for coming here today. My family is happy, our ancestors are rejoicing.含羞草研究社�

Nuxalk members sang a Thunder Song as the pole was being lowered and many embraced as it touched down onto the stone outside the museum entrance.

含羞草研究社淓verything that is on that totem pole has a meaning,含羞草研究社� Snuxyaltwa said. 含羞草研究社淩ight from the day it was born, it had a purpose, a purpose of life.含羞草研究社�

含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檓 sorry I got so teary-eyed, but I feel the spirits, it含羞草研究社檚 hard not to.含羞草研究社�

The pole, which had been taken from Talleomy, the original village site of the Nuxalk Nation, before the community moved to Bella Coola, has been in the First Peoples含羞草研究社� gallery of the RBCM for decades.

The museum verbally agreed to return the pole in 2019 after a visit from four Nuxalk hereditary chiefs and a civil claim against RBCM was filed in January 2022. The museum said the delay was a combination of logistical challenges 含羞草研究社� they didn含羞草研究社檛 know how to get the towering totem pole out of the building 含羞草研究社� and COVID-related delays.

Snuxyaltwa said the pole was originally carved by his great-grandfather and initially installed as an entrance pole for the Snuxualtwa family longhouse in Talleomy.

The Nuxalk community was devastated by the smallpox epidemic and the remaining community members were relocated to Bella Coola. On or around the same time, the totem pole was taken or purchased and then ended up in the museum.

Aiyanna Blankenship and Charlene Schooner travelled from Bella Coola to witness the handover.

Blankenship said everybody in the community is really happy about the pending return of the pole.

含羞草研究社淚t is something our families have been waiting for, waiting to be honoured and remembered in a good way, to be treated with dignity and respect, to be recognized as a human, to understand that we have really strong ties to the land,含羞草研究社� Schooner said.

These poles capture the great history of the Nuxalk Nation, Schooner added, comparing their removal to residential schools. 含羞草研究社淭hey were just torn away in the same way. These belong (to us). They are part of our history. They acknowledge how long we have been there.含羞草研究社�

-With files from Wolfgang Depner and Ruth Lloyd

READ: