![]() ![]() That was fortunate, Dangeli said, because it allowed the artistic team to slow down their timeline and work with extra care. Originally the totem pole was meant to be completed in time for a June 5 raising ceremony, but the ceremony was postponed until September because of the pandemic. Many other figures will adorn the totem pole when it is ready. The bottom figure, which is a crucial figure because it bears the weight of the totem pole, is a killer whale, to acknowledge that the totem pole will be on Kitsumkalum killer whale clan territory. She will represent missing and murdered indigenous women. Dangeli pointed out the main and largest figure on the totem pole, a young woman who will have a red dress and face paint. The 24-foot totem pole is is not fully carved yet, but some of the figures are starting to take shape. He’s carved more than 20 totem poles but never one so close to home in the Northwest, he said. ![]() ![]() “I wanted a space where our families could go, to find a little bit of healing, a little bit of peace, and a little bit of honouring their loved ones.”ĭangeli, an artist with Nisga’a, Tsimshian, Tlingit and Tsetsaut heritage, has been working on the totem pole under a tent in his back yard on Terrace’s Southside since September, alongside his adult sons Michael Dangeli and Nick Dangeli. “This is kind of closing the circle for me from the walks,” she said. Eventually, Radek became involved with the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls as an advisor and as an advocate for families coming forward to share stories.ĭuring all that hard work that began years ago with awareness walks, she said, she always envisioned creating a memorial for families in the Northwest. After her niece Tamara Chipman disappeared near Prince Rupert in 2005, Radek started organizing awareness walks - including a walk from Vancouver to Prince Rupert, and a walk across Canada. The idea to create a memorial came from Gladys Radek, a local advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous women. There are non-First-Nations who are going missing as well.” “What we’re talking about is honouring the families, and it’s treasuring the souls and spirits of the stolen sisters and boys and men, it’s honouring the two-spirited LGBTQ … and they’re not just First Nations. No more stolen sisters.’ It’s time to make a cultural statement, a traditional statement,” she said. “It’s time to have the courage and step forward in saying ‘No more. “The reading isn’t necessarily ‘this means this’ or ‘this equals this’ like in the English language,” he said.Īrlene Roberts, who is a key organizer of the memorial totem pole and Dangeli’s mom, said the physical monument is less important than the message it sends. That’s because totem poles represent fluid, metaphorical ideas and should not be interpreted in direct, concrete terms, said Mike Dangeli, the lead artist carving the totem pole. ![]() The totem pole is not just for missing and murdered Indigenous women - in a way, it’s also for missing and murdered people of all ages, colours and genders, as well as for two-spirit and LGBTQ people. After years of planning, a commemoration and healing totem pole honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women will be raised at a highway pullout on Kitsumkalum territory west of Terrace in September. ![]()
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