Brothers’ totem ‘from the heart’ will be carved on museum grounds
Visitors to the Royal B.C. Museum this summer will be able to watch as two Indigenous artists carve a totem pole on the grounds.
Starting Monday, brothers and master carvers Tom and Perry La Fortune of the Tsawout First Nation will slowly transform a roughly 7.5-metre piece of timber into a finished pole.
The theme of the pole is crossing cultures and healing. When finished, it will be raised at the Ministry of Health’s Victoria headquarters on Blanshard Street.
“At the heart of the Ministry of Health’s programs and services is a desire to provide a culturally safe, respectful space for healing,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix. “The totem is a symbol of our shared desire to support reconciliation.”
For the brothers, the pole has an even deeper meaning.
“This one comes from the heart,” said Tom La Fortune, the elder of the two, as he put his hand over his heart.
“This pole is for my mother, her mother and her mother’s mother. She was the strongest person that we knew and there is nothing stronger than cedar with spirit in it.”
The public carving program is being hosted by the museum in partnership with the Ministry of Health. It is sponsored by TimberWest.
“It will be an educational experience for visitors,” La Fortune said. “It will teach them about culture and art.”
The pole was donated by TimberWest and selected by the brothers, who were nominated as the program’s master carvers after consultations with the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations, on whose traditional territory the museum sits.
Access to the carving station in the museum’s outdoor plaza at 675 Belleville St. is free. The La Fortune brothers will work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday until the pole’s completion in October.
Several other First Nation artists will join the carvers next week between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Carvers Dave and Johnathan Jacobson of Tsaxis First Nation, carver and painter Tom Hunt Jr. of Wei-Wai-Kum First Nation, cedar weaver Toni Frank of Shishalh First Nation, and carvers and fashion designers the Good family from Snuneymux First Nation will be on hand to demonstrate their artwork.