Yakudlłas,

“always giving things away”

Charlie James

THE LEGEND OF THIS POLE is a Ḵwiḵwa̱sut̓inux̱w story of Ts̓eḵameʼ, the Great Magician of the Red Cedar Bark, at the time of a visit of Ḵ̓aniḵiʼlakw, a great mystic character, to the Mit̓ap on Veiner Sound.

The story behind this Pole belongs to the Ḵwiḵwa̱sut̓inux̱w people and tells of Ts̓eḵameʼs encounters with Ḵ̓aniḵiʼlakw, which then leads to the meeting of Ḵ̓umugweʼ – Chief of the Sea.

At the time, Ḵ̓aniḵiʼlakw cut off Ts̓eḵameʼs head. The head and body came together again. Ts̓eḵameʼ was then pushed into a box and cast into a fire. Again he came back to life.

At last, a heavy stone weight was tied to his feet and he was thrown into the sea. He sank to the world of Ḵ̓umugweʼ - the Great lord of the Wealth of the Deep. All about were people and things of the oceanʼs depths.

The earthly visitor was recognized as Ts̓eḵameʼ, and shown the Mystic Cradle Dance. Of these things he was given a choice for the benefit of himself and his heirs. Ts̓eḵameʼ was also told to take the totem pole he saw there and commemorate his great future Yeḵa̱was with it.

On this pole were the creatures of the deep, Nanis - Sea Grizzly, Max̱iʼnux̱w - the Killer Whale, a Powerful Man, Wak̓es - the frog, K̓wuma - the bullhead.

When Ts̓eḵameʼ came to the surface again, with outstretched arms as is done in the t̓seka (red cedar bark ceremony), Ḵ̓aniḵiʼlakw was still there awaiting him.

The Great Mystic one then recognized Ts̓eḵameʼas immortal and presented him with the frog and its power for his dance.

This Ts̓eḵameʼ cast out from him at Mit̓ap, in order to show his supernatural attainments. There a monster stone shaped in the form of a frog marks the spot today.

Ḵulus, the Great Supernatural Thunderbird, which was the ancestor of Ts̓eḵameʼ adorns the top of the totem pole.

History of the Charlie James Totem Pole

The cedar tree used to carve this magnificent pole was felled by Charlie Newman; and then carved by Charlie James on the beachfront near the present-day site of the Cultural Centre.

His original intent for the pole a gift to the St. Paul's Anglican Church Girls' Auxillary in appreciation for the work the Girls' Auxillary had been carrying out and to show their support to children in Alert Bay and other Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw communities.

When St. Paul's Anglican Church received the pole in 1925, they did not have an indoor space to house the 16' 3" totem pole, so Christ Church Cathedral agreed to place the totem pole in the church's Memorial Hall at 900 Vancouver Street, Victoria.

The pole remained indoors for the next 72 years, in 1997-1998 the Royal BC Museum borrowed the pole for their exhibit entitled, "Whales". Because it has been inside all this time, the pole remains in close to its original condition, never having been repainted.

After renovations were completed on Memorial Hall it was discovered that they no longer had the required room to house the pole.

In August 2002, discussions began between representatives of St. Paul's Anglican Church, Christ Church Cathedral, the Diocese of BC and the descendants of Charlie James (members of the Neel, Newman, Cook and Hunger families) to discuss a new home for the pole.

The descendants of Charlie James recommended that the Church consider gifting the pole to the U'mista Cultural Centre, so the pole could be seen and appreciated by a wider local and international audience, and could also be studied by Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw artists

The Church agreed with the family's recommendation, and a letter of donation was sent to the U'mista Cultural Centre to see if they would accept the gift of this totem pole. The U'mista Cultural Centre accepted the donation of this great treasure, and a series of meetings were held to plan the move of the pole from Victoria to Alert Bay.

On October 15, 2003, the pole was moved to the U'mista Cultural Centre. Upon its arrival at U'mista Cultural Centre, with the families of Charlie James, Lucy and Charlie Newman, and the Diocese of British Columbia, Anglican Church of Canada immediately extended an invitation to the community to celebrate the return of this outstanding treasure.

In late September 2010 the pole was raised in the entry way of the Cultural Centre and the family requested Umista take the lead in blessing the pole. National Aboriginal Day 2012 was the perfect time to celebrate this amazing piece of Charlie James art work.

Gilakas'la to the family (the descendants of Charlie James, Lucy Newman and Charlie Newman) and the Diocense of British Columbia Anglican Church of Canada for their efforts in seeing the pole home.

Charlie James, on the left, with Mungo Martin.

Behind them is a Thunderbird made by Charlie for a grave here in Alert Bay.

In front of a sisiyutl and copper cedar mat. N.d. circa 1915.

Photo courtesy City Archives, Vancouver IN-P-121