When first nations carver and artist Ivan Rosypskye unveiled the new welcome figure at Brooks Secondary School on Wednesday, June 14, the entire student body, teachers and dignitaries witnessed another chapter in Tla’amin Nation and Powell River history.
“I’m very proud of what took place today and it just fills my heart with joy,” said Tla’amin elder Elsie Paul.
The dramatic and imposing figure made from a 16-foot red cedar towers over the school’s northwest lawn and looks out over the water toward Harwood Island; its arms stretch out in a welcoming gesture.
“The welcome figure is called č̓ɛʔčɛʔəm [pronounced CH’eh cheh hum], meaning ‘welcome,’” said Rosypskye. “They are always facing the ocean, which was the highway for thousands of years.”
After the first imposing impression, details such as the weaved cedar hat and skirt, and the eyes, become apparent.
“The hat is true Salish,” said Rosypskye. “The eyes are copper with copper nails holding them in place.”
Rosypskye and fellow carver Phil Russell tutored a small group of students who learned to carve using traditional tools as well as important first nations history through Rosypskye’s own experiences from when he attended Brooks.
“I went to this school,” said Rosypskye. “Going to the history class they didn’t actually teach us about native culture. They skipped past it and went right into the colonizer, memorizing colonizers dates and names.”
Brooks student Nicolo Mazurek, 14, carved, sanded and worked on the figure’s arms. He said he felt a sense of pride seeing it finished.
“It looks a lot bigger than it did when we were carving it,” said Mazurek, who added that when he is older he will be able to point to the welcome figure and say, “I helped carve that.”
The project was a long time coming, according to Ahms Tah Ow School teacher Jason Rae who, along with education assistant Lindsay Louie, first nations support staff at Brooks and School District 47 principal of personalized learning programs Rod Perrault, shared the vision of the project.
Rae said the concept began when he and Louie wondered how the school could involve more students in learning about local culture. School district superintendent Jay Yule said the figure is an expression of learning inclusiveness and a welcome change in education.
“As we’ve moved forward the kind of systems we’ve put in place really embrace their culture, their teachings and wanting Tla’amin to be an equal partner in the education of all children,” said Yule.
The school district has been a friend to Tla’amin, according to hegus Clint Williams.
“That’s not a common occurrence around BC, or even Canada for that matter,” said Williams. “We get asked how these relationships formed and we really don’t have a good answer. We’ve just kind of found each other and started building the relationship.”
Rae said it was an amazing feeling when he, Rosypskye and Russell put the final coats of stain and paint on the welcome figure.
“There was a silence,” said Rae. “We finished it and stood back. It was hard to believe it was complete, but it was a very good, uplifting feeling.”
Rae said he hopes the experience students had while working on the figure will last a lifetime.
“They may not think right now about the importance of it,” said Rae, “but hopefully down the road they’ll look back and see they had something to do with that.”
