The Reconciliation Pole
The ISP Engagement Process was designed to be somewhat analogous to the story of the raising of the Reconciliation Pole, installed here at UBC in April 2017.
About Reconciliation Pole
The Reconciliation Pole is situated on the unceded ancestral and traditional territory of the hən’q’əmin’əm’ speaking Musqueam people. The pole, carved from an 800-year-old red cedar log, was installed on April 1, 2017.
The Reconciliation Pole took a team of experienced carvers to complete over a number of months, led by Haida artist James Hart, with a small amount of carving by some members of the university community as a way of sharing ownership of the pole’s message of reconciliation. The pole depicts First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples’ genocidal experience with Canada’s residential school system and how, despite this past, Indigenous peoples are celebrating their culture and implementing their rights.
The Reconciliation Pole recognizes a complex history, which includes the history of the Indian Residential School System that operated for more than 100 years, the last one closing in 1996. Residential Schools forcibly separated over 150,000 children from their parents, families, and cultures. Many students died in the schools and many more suffered severe forms of psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. For the Haida people today, carving and publicly raising new poles is a way of honouring history and celebrating the ongoing vitality of cultural practices. Though culturally distinct, the Reconciliation Pole honours all First Nations who have persisted through the dark experience of the schools and look to a better future.
With the consent of Musqueam, the pole was raised through the efforts of hundreds of people, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, young and old, who together pulled on a handful of ropes in the same direction. This image alone is a powerful symbol of unity and a demonstration of what can be achieved when we work towards a common set of goals.
What story does reconciliation pole tell?
Haida poles are read from bottom to top.
1
Surrounding the base of the pole are salmon symbolizing life and its cycles.
2
Between the legs of Bear Mother is sGaaga (Shaman) who stands on top of the Salmon House and enacts a ritual to ensure their return.
3
Bear Mother holds her twin cubs, Raven looks out from between Bear Mother’s Ears.
4
Surrounding the base of the pole are salmon symbolizing life and its cycles.
5
Bear Mother holds her twin cubs, Raven looks out from between Bear Mother’s Ears.
6
Bear Mother holds her twin cubs, Raven looks out from between Bear Mother’s Ears.
7
Surrounding the base of the pole are salmon symbolizing life and its cycles.
8
Between the legs of Bear Mother is sGaaga (Shaman) who stands on top of the Salmon House and enacts a ritual to ensure their return.
9
Bear Mother holds her twin cubs, Raven looks out from between Bear Mother’s Ears.
10
Between the legs of Bear Mother is sGaaga (Shaman) who stands on top of the Salmon House and enacts a ritual to ensure their return.
After
During
Before
We honour, celebrate and thank the xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam) and Syilx Okanagan peoples on whose territories the main campuses of the University of British Columbia have the privilege to be situated.