VIU Celebrates the Raising of a Third Totem Pole at Shq'apthut

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Wednesday, October 12th, 2016
11:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Please join us on Wednesday, October 12 to celebrate the final of three ceremonial Totem Poles at Shq’apthut, VIU’s Aboriginal Gathering Place (Building 170).

The celebration will start at 11 am at Shq’apthut, VIU’s Aboriginal Gathering Place, with a ceremony and speeches, followed by lunch and cultural activities in the VIU Gym. The Totem Pole Project began in 2014 when the VIU Students’ Union had a vision of creating three totem poles – each carved by artists from the three major language groups on Vancouver Island. Their goal was to demonstrate the University’s commitment to supporting Indigenous education and to create an open, welcoming and culturally relevant campus for all First Nations students and community partners.

The first two poles, carved by artists Noel Brown from Snuneymuxw First Nation and Qwaya Sam from Nuu-chah-nulth, were celebrated at a community gathering in June 2015. The third pole, carved by artist Tom Hunt from the Kwakwaka'wakw Territories, will be celebrated on October 12. The project demonstrates VIU’s ongoing and continued commitment to building strong, reciprocal relationships with First Nations in our regions, and it reinforces our relationship with our industry partners, as the Western red cedar trees used to create the totems were donated by Island Timberlands, Western Forest Products and TimberWest.

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