{"id":3867,"date":"2025-06-16T16:13:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T23:13:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/?p=3867"},"modified":"2025-06-16T16:13:55","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T23:13:55","slug":"a-story-about-generations-coast-salish-house-post-unveiled-at-c%cc%93%c9%99sq%c9%99nel%c9%99-elementary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/a-story-about-generations-coast-salish-house-post-unveiled-at-c%cc%93%c9%99sq%c9%99nel%c9%99-elementary\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A story about generations\u2019: Coast Salish house post unveiled at c\u0313\u0259sq\u0259nel\u0259 Elementary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3868\" src=\"https:\/\/wordpress1.blob.core.windows.net\/cusqunela\/2025\/06\/CQE-House-Post-06.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A 16-foot Coast Salish house post now stands at the entrance of c\u0313\u0259sq\u0259nel\u0259 Elementary, welcoming students, staff and visitors into the school with a message of connectedness.<\/p>\n<p>The carving on the 600-year-old cedar house post depicts a golden eagle clasping a hatching egg.<\/p>\n<p>Kwantlen First Nation artist and carver Brandon Gabriel hopes when people see the pole, they see the story it tells.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[It&#8217;s] a story about generations and it\u2019s a story about family and community,\u201d Gabriel explained.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n2p3hlzR9cw?si=BCX8HLSy84I94I8r\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Gabriel and his carving team from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/octopusspirit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Octopus Spirit Enterprises<\/a> \u2013 Elder Lekeyten and Luther Aday, also of the Kwantlen First Nation \u2013 worked for two years to bring the story to life.<\/p>\n<p>In the summer of 2022, the principal at the time invited Gabriel to the school to discuss the possibility of a public art installation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe discussed a mural, we discussed 3D sculptures, we discussed collages,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we decided that the most fitting tribute to the school and the most respectful and historically accurate with respect to Indigenous culture would have been a Coast Salish welcome pole.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Prior to colonization, these welcome poles were the first thing to greet visitors at longhouses, Gabriel explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd these carved welcome figures were [intended] to show the power and authority, the heraldry and the strength of the community [&#8230;] you visited,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-19112 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sd42.ca\/assets\/media\/CQE-House-Post-05.jpg\" alt=\"A 16-foot Coast Salish house post at the entrance of c\u0313\u0259sq\u0259nel\u0259 Elementary.\" width=\"264\" height=\"396\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While the landscape is no longer dotted with longhouses, Gabriel noted, it\u2019s important to recognize this history and uphold it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, I think it\u2019s fitting that it\u2019d be placed at the entrance of this school,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel and his team got to work. They found an old growth red cedar that had been naturally felled by lightning in Port McNeill on northern Vancouver Island.<\/p>\n<p>After harvesting the log, they began the design consultation process, which included members of the Katzie First Nation, Kwantlen First Nation, members of other St\u00f3:l\u014d communities, and SD42 staff and students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted to create an art piece that was a unifier, something that the school community could all be proud of,\u201d he explained. \u201cSomething that could easily be told and retold no matter what age you were, no matter what your connection to the school is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After one year of consultation, they settled on a design. The H\u0259n\u0313q\u0313\u0259min\u0313\u0259m\u0313 name of the school, c\u0313\u0259sq\u0259nel\u0259, translates to \u201cwhere the golden eagle gathers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a direct reference to the very land that we\u2019re standing on,\u201d Gabriel said.<\/p>\n<p>This land used to be one of North America\u2019s primary breeding and migratory grounds for thousands of eagles each winter, sustained by the large salmon population in the Fraser River, he explained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis place is special,\u201d Gabriel said. \u201cTo this day, this land still provides enough abundance of resources for people to call this place home. So, I wanted to create an artwork that is a direct correlation and a direct reference to those phenomena.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gabriel and his team carved on site at the school and students were able to watch them work and ask questions.<\/p>\n<p>After one year of consultation and eight months of carving, the pole was finished.<\/p>\n<p>The house post was unveiled in a ceremony at c\u0313\u0259sq\u0259nel\u0259 Elementary on March 12, 2025.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-19113\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sd42.ca\/assets\/media\/CQE-House-Post-12.jpg\" alt=\"Elder Lekeyten and Brandon Gabriel of Kwantlen First Nation are honoured at the unveiling ceremony of the c\u0313\u0259sq\u0259nel\u0259 Elementary house post.\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A 16-foot Coast Salish house post now stands at the entrance of c\u0313\u0259sq\u0259nel\u0259 Elementary, welcoming students, staff and visitors into the school with a message of connectedness. The carving on [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3868,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","entry"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3867"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3869,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3867\/revisions\/3869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elementary.sd42.ca\/cusqunela\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}