Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/987827
6 | V A N C O U V E R F O U N D A T I O N | 1 9 4 3 - 2 0 1 8 Honour: Health to Hand – keeping Haida First Nation traditions alive BY ROBIN BRUNET Totems Forest in the E ngaging at-risk youth has been a long-time concern of the Haida First Nation. So when the Old Massett Village Council (OMVC) and the Tluu Xaada Naay Society approached Vancouver Foundation in 2016 with an application titled "Honour: Health to Hand," it was to support a program that would teach youths skills and disciplines based on Haida art and culture, using carving and design as the principal medium. This culminated in eight Haida youths earning certi‡cates from NorthWest Community College and acquiring traditional woodworking skills from Haida master carvers, in a project called Totems in the Forest. Supported by a $75,000 grant from Vancouver Foundation, the project also saw the raising of Haida Gwaii's newest monumental pole on Taaw Hill by the east bank of the Hiellen River on June 21, 2017. The ceremony drew over 1,300 locals and visitors. In addition to empowering at-risk youth and engaging the greater community, the 51-foot cedar totem pole (a stunning interpretation of a totem that stood at Hiellen village from the early 1800s until 1945) helped encourage repatriation and reconciliation among a people who no longer live where Hiellen is located. "It was an unforgettable, joyous, and emotional day for everyone to watch the ‡rst totem raised in this area in almost 200 years," says master carver Kilthguulans Christian White. Fraser Earl