Richard's Totem Pole (1981)

we are I am we are [Music] [Applause] [Music] I think this one will do yep I think this one will make a good pool this the one we're looking for my name is Richard Harris and I'm 16 years old I'm a gkas and Indian and my father Walter is a master totem pool Carver and a hereditary chief of our clan he's just been commissioned to carve a 30ft totem pool and he's asked me to help [Applause] [Music] I'd like to help my father and he's very pleased but I don't know if I'll be of much use I've never carved before in fact sometimes I feel more like a cowboy than like an Indian we live in the west of Canada a large beautiful country where our people have been living for thousands of years my Village kispiox has only 300 people and is half an hour north of Hazelton the nearest town here in the Rocky Mountains the rivers and Hills gave birth to trees now four to 500 years old that are perfect for totem poles although these old cedar trees are becoming scarce and we had a travel 100 miles from our village to find one [Music] come to the to [Music] my father says that each totem pole tells a story and that nobody really knows how old the tradition is sometimes they're memorials to the dead and sometimes they express the feeling of our people that everything in nature is a different form of the same thing what does that bottom figure mean there well it's a the pool where starting tomorrow will represent our gason people in the collection of the University of British columb my father says he wants me to carve my own Crest on the pole I didn't even know I had a Crest he says it's both a spirit power symbol and a hereditary family emblem he doesn't know mine since it's passed down through the mother's side and I should ask her about my Crest when she comes back from Vancouver on the weekend the first step in making the pole is to strip the bark after which we'll square the log [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] beautiful finally with my brother Rod's help we shaped the front of the pool to prepare it for carving dad says my grandmother and some Village Elders will be at the graveyard this afternoon and maybe they'll know about my crest [Music] [Music] the mil que que [Music] and and [Music] my grandfather was a leading gasan Chief and I don't know how long it's been since I last cleared the weeds from his grave Clara Harris is my dad's mother and though she's an expert on her family's crests she doesn't know about my mother's line neither do Mary and Moses who say that only my mother would know for sure [Music] fall [Music] [Music] [Applause] this morning my dad said not to worry about my Crest he's sure my mother must know but I'm not sure if it'll help me find the spirit of my people's Traditions although we live in kispo we work in nearby cassand when my father was young the tribe had lost touch with its Traditions but by the 1960s there was a rebirth of culture among Indians all over North America it was then that our people built cassan as a traditional Village and a center for gasan Arts [Music] [Music] I decid to put a frog design on the bottom the Frog Crest my father has decided to carve at the base of the pole represents the largest gasan Clan above that the fire killer whale for Dad's own Clan then the mosquito where's and finally he's leaving space at the top for my Crest whatever it is I'll have to do a strong design people can feel because it'll be 30 ft above their [Music] heads once dad transfers the designs to the pole we'll rough it in with power tools and then begin the carving [Applause] [Music] I've always loved watching my father work he uses tools as beautifully and as easily as a painter uses a brush my father says our work is going well and soon he'll ask Chester to do a ceremonial grow dance to inaugurate the pole before the fine carving begins this afternoon I can catch some salmon for tomorrow's barbecue my mother will be home then and I'll be able to ask her about my Prest [Music] [Music] there's a storm across the valley clouds are rolling in the afternoon was heavy on Soldier there's a truck on the floor Lane mile or more away the whining of his wheel makes some colder away froming then Days on the Road barely gone like a fire softly [Music] burning it's alive makes me warm my mom knows what my Crest is it's the white Running Wolf and she says it has a long and proud tradition she and Mary are very pleased on finally becoming interested in our ways but me that to carve it well I must really feel it spirit [Music] [Music] [Music] last night watching the dance I felt happy and later the design of my Crest came to me my Running Wolf will be mounted horizontally across the top of the pole my father thinks it's an excellent idea and I'm very excited about it [Music] my father says that in our Carvin we must find the spirit in the wood and give it expression and now as I carve I'm beginning to visualize the form my own Crest must take in just one week the poll must be finished I must start my Crest tomorrow if it's to be ready they'll be a big celebration at the University for the pole raisin and we're all going to be there [Music] finally my wolf Crest is beginning to take [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] shape you have to keep your just right angle dad makes all his own chisels and adses which are the shopping hatchets we use and he wants me to know how to keep them sharp so every cut will be clean and precise [Music] to be a really fine Carver there's so much to know my father has a feeling for wood that's taken him a lifetime to develop and it's wonderful to be learning from him [Music] today we're putting the finish and touches on the pool and on my Crest too and tomorrow the truck will be here to take it down to Vancouver for the pole raisin [Music] how you get [Music] the cheeseburgers couple of Milkshakes [Music] easy we get r [Music] hey [Music] [Music] all [Music] [Applause] [Music] heart hallah [Applause] your hands [Music] me [Music] oh why [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] have oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] on [Music] [Music] [Music] what an exciting day when I look at my Running Wolf at the top of the pool I feel like like that wolf is part of me and when I put on the wolf mask I feel like I'm part of the wolf it feels like I'm beginning to understand how my people see the world [Music] n [Music] la a [Music]