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  • 5 hours ago
Clarence Mills first carved the totem pole for Expo 88 in Brisbane. It was then displayed in the grounds of the High Commission of Canada in Canberra for nearly 40 years. Now, Clarence is back to restore the very personal piece
Transcript
00:10It's western red cedar from the forest of British Columbia on Vancouver Island. It's 800
00:16years old. I took 300 off to make it this size. So western red cedar and it's a traditional wood
00:25carved by all First Nations in British Columbia. So we have here the Chief Skidat Islands, my
00:33grandfather, and Haida Gwaii, he used to be called the Queen Charlotte Islands. So we put
00:40him at the beginning of the pole. So the guy at the beginning isn't low man on the total
00:45pole. He's the most important. So then we have the knee and the elbow and the paw and
00:53the claw of the bear and the tongue, the canines, the lips, the nostril, and then the eye socket,
01:02the eye, and then the forehead and then the ear of the bear joins the claws of the raven.
01:11And then my grandfather's main crest is a moon he wears on his headpiece. And then we have
01:21the two feathers, the forearm and then this is the shoulder of, or the wing, the shoulders
01:31of the wings. And the long beak is always a raven. And then the eye socket here, the forehead,
01:40and then the ear of the raven, and then my grandmother at the top. The wife of the chief.
01:49That's a great.
01:51That's an awesome time for me to come and just help me.
01:56Yeah.
01:56And bring my daughter on the left side with the shoulder and the head and the other side.
01:58Okay.
01:59Yeah.
02:01Okay.
02:02All right.
02:06Okay.
02:07Okay.
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