B.C. Nisga’a totem on display at Scotland museum since 1930 is heading home – CityNews

VICTORIA — Nisga’a Nation Chief Earl Stephens says he shook with emotion when he saw for the first time a memorial totem pole with deep ties to his family and spiritual significance to the Indigenous people of British Columbia’s Nass Valley on display at Scotland’s National Museum.

He touched the red cedar pole and spoke to it in the Nisga’a language as officials from the national museum quietly observed, said Stephens.

The chief said he was celebrating Thursday after the museum’s board of trustees agreed to transfer the 11-metre memorial totem pole, which has been on display at the Edinburgh institution since 1930, back to Nisga’a territory.

“The pole is part of a living being,” Stephens said in an interview from the Nisga’a village of Laxgalts’ap.

It carries the spirit of his great, great grandmother, which is why it’s so important to bring it back to the Nisga’a lands where it came from, he said.

Read More: https://kitchener.citynews.ca/national-news/bc-nisgaa-totem-on-display-at-scotland-museum-since-1930-is-heading-home-6186504