Creation Story Pole - Saanich, British Columbia, Canada - Outside Wooden Display Carvings on Waymarking.com

This totem pole was carved by First Nations artist Charles Elliott in 1990. It was carved from a 500-year-old western red cedar tree that was cut down near Caycuse at the western end of Cowichan Lake about 90 kilometres to the northwest. The completed 7,000-pound pole was raised by 100 volunteers as part of a traditional Salish pole-blessing ceremony conducted by tribal elders on June 3, 1990.

The Autumn 1990 volume of the UVic Torch alumni magazine provides the legend depicted by the totem pole:

A long, long time ago, when our land was still heavy with forest, one young man, SWIWLES,S, became a new dancer. He was a very good dancer. He had a good style. His people were very proud of his dancing.

When the moon of the Frog came along it was time to end the dancing season. The new dancers would then venture into the forest and take their uniforms off. They would put their hats on their canes and place them in the hollow of a cedar tree.

It was at this time the creator appeared to SWIWLES,S and he told him that his style was very good; that through his bathing, venturing into the forest, and keeping a clean mind he would receive a gift for his goodness. The gift SWIWLES,S would receive would enable him to foretell the future. He would become a SIYEWE. The creator warned him never to tell anyone of the gift he received. So the young man returned home happy and excited about the gift he had received.

When he and his wife went to bed that night he could no longer contain his excitement. He thought to himself that if he whispered in his wife's ear, no one would hear. The moment he whispered into his wife's ear, he realized that he had wronged the creator.

The very next morning, SWIWLES,S and his wife packed their things and put them in their canoe. They paddled towards Cordova Bay and when they arrived the creator spoke to them from amongst the Blue Herons at Point Roberts. The young man told his wife not to listen. He said, "Get off the canoe, and we will go up into the forest and hide."

Since they did not stop, the creator became angry. He cast a stone at them. Just as SWIWLES,S was pushing his wife up the hill, the round black rock struck them, and they turned into stone.

Today one can still see the pair pushing each other up the hill with the stone lodged in the man, at Cordova Bay.

Type of wood carving: Totem pole Artist's Name: Charles Elliott Approximate size/height: 26 feet Type of wood: Western red cedar Other type: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
All logs must be the result of an actual visit to the wooden carving.
"Visited" only remarks will not be accepted.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   08/13/2018 The Burrow visited it