Banned for 100 years, totem pole becomes ‘a beautiful thing’

Amidst a flurry of drums and traditional song, the Dr. Peter Centre celebrated the blessing of a new totem that will soon stand in its lobby.  

The Dr. Peter Centre, across the street from St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, provides therapies and health services for people with HIV and other complex care needs. The healing pole was funded with grant money from the Archdiocese of Vancouver to help with the integration of Indigenous cultural practices into the centre’s care programs.

CEO Scott Elliott told approximately 40 community members and centre staff attending the Dec. 11 event that while clients say they valued the Dr. Peter Centre for making them feel accepted, he believed they could do better.  

“There is no single prescription that can break the cycle of addiction or cure the layered trauma that many of our Indigenous participants carry with them. Yet of all the treatments we provide, one of the most powerful medicines is love,” he said. 

As such, the new totem pole is part of an initiative to bring the wider community together with participants in their programs. 

Approximately 30 per cent of the 350 people the centre cares for through its daytime health care programs identify as Indigenous, and Elliott believes the healing pole is an important part of developing care strategies for their community. 

In addition to cultural workers who provide programs and services such as art therapy, smudging, talking circles, medicine gatherings, cultural food, and travel to cultural ceremonies, the grant supports cultural advisers and elders. The goal is to ensure there are Indigenous team members available seven days a week. 

The totem ceremony involved brushing the rough carved totem pole with cedar branches and water while artist-in-residence John Spence and his family members drummed and sang a sacred song.

The rough carving was done by an artist on Haida Gwaii. In coming months, Spence will add more fine details to the totem and paint it in traditional red and black. 

The totem depicts a grandmother-moon above a mother bear with her two cubs. Spence told The B.C. Catholic it is rare for a bear to have her cubs with her in traditional Indigenous art, which adds a special element to the pole. 

Before the ceremony, Spence told the gathering that “allowing us to stand a totem pole in our territory, something that was banned for 100 years, is a beautiful thing.”

“Inviting our communities together to bless a cedar log through a sacred and traditional ceremony is very powerful to be a witness to,” he said. Watching the creation of the totem pole will be a great “opportunity for people to learn, participate, and connect on many levels.”

“To then have this amazing piece of rich culture and connection to the land, the people, and communities standing proudly in the front entrance is going to speak volumes of honouring truth and reconciliation and First Nations people of the territories,” he said.

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