PAT DEAKIN
PORT ALBERNI – Assuming you are reading this after June 21st, National Indigenous Peoples Day, the iconic former Clock Tower in Harbour Quay, Port Alberni, will have been newly named as the Wolf Tower and celebrated by a large crowd.
The Tseshaht Wolf Ritual (Tlookwaana) was practiced near what is now the Harbour Quay site until 1860 when the Tseshaht were forced off their winter village (Tlukwatku-is) by a ‘show of force’ from the skippers of two schooners each with a cannon aboard. The men on the two ships had arrived in the harbour with the intent of building a sawmill and viewed the village site as the best place to do that.
The encounter was documented by Gilbert Malcolm Sproat, a representative for Thomson & Company in England who were financing the construction of the mill. Sproat was 26 years old and from Scotland.
Sproat’s description of the events that took place over a couple of weeks is, in turn reported in Jan Peterson’s book, ‘The Albernis 1860 – 1922’. After describing the interactions, Sproat reflected on it with this passage in his journal: “The whole question of the right of any people to intrude upon another, and to dispossess them of their country, is one of those questions to which the answer practically, is always the same, though differently given by many as a matter of speculative opinion.”
158 years later after many court cases and the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People have put an end to that ‘speculative opinion’ and in the summer of 2018, the City of Port Alberni and Tseshaht adopted a Memorandum of Understanding that led to the creation of the Wolf Tower as a reconciliation initiative. In the 4 years since, our communities have worked to realize the intent of the Memorandum. Tseshaht, the City of Port Alberni, the Island Coastal Economic Trust and PacifiCan (Pacific Economic Development Canada) have contributed financially to the project with the latter agency providing the ‘lion’s share’. Hundreds of people from every ‘walk of life’ and dozens of organizations have worked to make this possible and to each we are truly grateful.
The Tower has been completely redone and adorned with large metal sculptures giving a glimpse into the Wolf Ritual. Signage telling the story will go up later this summer.
Pat Deakin is the Economic Development Manager for the City of Port Alberni and currently the President of the BCEDA. He can be reached at 250-720-2527 or Patrick_deakin@portalberni.ca