Peace and Reconciliation Totem Pole - Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario
N 45° 32.277 W 078° 15.851
17T E 713595 N 5046353
In October 2015, the Algonquins of Ontario raised a totem pole overlooking Algonquin Provincial Park’s East Gate. An Algonquin elder carved it from an eastern white pine almost as old as the park.
Waymark Code: WMXX88
Location: Ontario, Canada
Date Posted: 03/12/2018
Views: 9
"Truth and reconciliation" has been a common theme of conversation in Canada over the last several years. There has been a concerted effort at mending relationships between Canada's Indigenous population and other Canadians.
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Since 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission has been taking statements from survivors of the residential schools. Stories in the news told of children taken from their families, robbed of their culture and language, beaten and abused.
It was no news to the totem carver, Dan Bowers. He’d heard these stories from elders and his father. “My dad was taken away and put in an orphanage when he was only a young boy. He didn’t even know his family for 25 years.”
Then Dan heard a speech by federal Senator Murray Sinclair. “I thought it would be a good time to celebrate that truth and reconciliation with all nations across Canada.”
Dan didn’t want to disrespect the culture of traditional carvers like the Haida and the Cowichan. So he carved the stories from his own people. The eagle. Turtle Island. The sacred fire of healing and renewal.
Dan Bowers and NHE Technician Dawn Sherman worked together to prepare the interpretive panels. Audio will soon be added, with elders telling the stories in their Indigenous language. “I wanted to give something back to our ancestors, I wanted to give something back to our people up north. To society, to symbolize how beautiful the native culture could be, what it could contribute.
“I carved at night, with the Grandmothers shining down. It just seemed to flow. With each stroke of the knife, the stories would just come back to me.”
When the totem was finished, the Algonquins of Ontario offered it to Algonquin Provincial Park in the spirit of peace and reconciliation.
Park Superintendent David Coulas was deeply touched by the gift and the spirit in which it was given.
The grandfather pine was raised in a place of pride at the eastern gateway of the park. At its foot, interpretive panels share the totem’s significance.