Raising a Totem Pole

Yes, the last entry was November 5, and how time flies. Remembrance day has come and gone (of course, this is important for teachers - assembly and performances and all that), the last potlatch has come and gone (more about this to come), and we're looking at Christmas! Rehearsals for the Christmas musical are going full speed, and I'm organizing the staff presentation - a dramatic performance of two songs, the first about Santa's eight reindeer, the second, about Rudolph......with myself in the star role as Rudolph!

But the event under discussion for this chronicles is the raising of a new totem pole in Bella Coola. There have been no new poles carved or raised here for many, many years, though we do have a pole in front of our school which was carved about 5 years ago, but because it was initiated and carved mainly by a non-native teacher (read: white guy) and some students, it doesn't really count. So, two weekends ago, on November 12, a new pole was raised in front of Nuxalk artist Art Saunders' house. The event was advertised in the paper and in the Nuxalk flyer: pole raising at 10:00 SHARP! Of course, sharp here in Bella Coola has sort of a different meaning than what one might think.....you've got to think 'Bella Coola time'......but of course, I saw the word 'sharp', and, being a literal thinker, thought, OK, I'll get there at 10:00 because I wouldn't want to miss anything, just in case they really happened to start on time....this time........ha, ha, ha, ha.......! There were lots of other people there at 10:00, including lots of non-native whiteys like me, who were there on time, interpreting 'sharp' to mean....well.....sharp.... cause they're going to get this thing up at 10:00......sharp....right? The hydro truck was there at 10:00.....sharp, cause they also thought they'd probably be needed right at 10:00 to help get that sucker UP! Well, at 10:00, the pole wasn't even out of the carving shed out in the back yard! After about an hour or so, the singers and drummers arrived, and by that time there were enough men to carry the thing out of the shed to the front yard. FINALLY, the singers sang, the drummers drummed, and the men processed the pole out to the front of the house. Then, there were various speeches, some in Nuxalk with translation......blah, blah, blah.....and then there seemed to be some real action starting to happen.....ropes and chains were hefted around, there was a chain saw cutting various bits of wood, but after about another hour, it really seemed like they were really just trying to figure out just how to do it, with a number of different fellows jockeying to lead the whole process and create a plan. Finally, they got some ropes around the pole, and chained the thing up to the hydro truck crane, and they hoisted the pole up and set it on the scaffolding (see the photo). Well, by this time it was lunch time, and what do you know.....they actually had lunch ready! - I guess they knew all along that 10:00 sharp was a JOKE - ha ha fooled you - here's lunch! First, came coffee and tea, and believe me, by that time, most people were really cold and slurped down that liquid heat. Then came platters of sandwiches ( there were probably about 50 or 60 people there at this point), and then plates of homemade baked goodies, and not just the usual cake-mix-cakes-and-cupcakes kind of goodies, but really good baked things like chocolate cheesecake squares, pecan pie bars, and chocolate chip cookies. So everyone lined up and ate, and ate, and ate, and of course the real action all stopped while everyone ate. Well, after standing around for another 45 minutes, it was then 12:45! The pole was still lying on the scaffolding, and I had to get down to the postoffice, which closes at 1:00. So I left, after getting there at 10:00 sharp, and hanging around for 2 hours and 45 minutes! No, I did not see that pole get raised, because who knew, at that point, it seemed like it could take several more hours to get raised! Stay tuned for the end to this story!