Silver Totem of Shame Read online

  To Jim

  One

  Granville Island, Vancouver, British Columbia

  He liked the staccato beat of rain drumming on the roof of the carving shed. It felt good knowing his ancestors would’ve heard this sound on Haida Gwaii while working on their own totem poles, and not the incessant thrumming of traffic crossing the bridge less than thirty metres above his head. The sound drove him crazy, until his hands started moving over the wood. Then the noise faded away with the steady rhythm of his carving.

  But with no shed of his own or hope of having one until he was out into the “real world,” he had to rely on the charity of the only Haida carver he knew, Ernest Paul. Ern made a lot of money from carving totems and liked to brag that he had one standing in pretty near every major capital of the world.

  Last month, Ern was in Tokyo for the raising of his latest, a huge fifteen-metre pole of red cedar that some Japanese billionaire had commissioned for his garden. At $6,500 a metre, only rich guys could afford them. The guy even had the nerve to insist that four watchmen sit on top instead of the usual two. They were supposed to represent his four kids, which wasn’t exactly in the Haida tradition. But as Ern said, when a client paid the big bucks, he got what he wanted, which wasn’t all that different from when the chiefs in the old days commissioned their poles.

  He carefully laid his long-handled tools out on the table. Some were Ern’s castoffs; others he’d made himself. Though they might not have the sharpest edges, they were his, about all he had to show that he was a carver. That and the two-inch scar from the time a chisel had slipped and sliced his hand almost to the bone. Fuck, it had hurt. A lot of blood had spurted out, much of it on the killer whale he’d been carving on one of Ern’s smaller commissions. That was the first time he’d faced Haida anger in its full fury.

  In time Ern had calmed down, although the master carver hadn’t let him near another commission until now. And this wasn’t especially important. It was a pro bono for the new healing lodge being set up in Vancouver’s Eastside. If he cut himself this time, Ern wouldn’t care. Besides, the blood would add to the legend of the pole.

  He ran his hand over the smooth cedar and traced his fingers along the stenciled outline of the eagle he would start working on tonight. He remembered the first time he had cut into cedar. It’d felt like coming home. With that single cut he’d known this was where he belonged. This was who he was, a carver, not the lawyer his mother wanted him to be. He could almost feel the hand of an ancestor guiding his adze as it sliced into the soft, almost buttery, aromatic wood.

  He breathed in the rich scent of the cedar. He imagined this is what it smelled like on Haida Gwaii, a place he’d never visited, despite it being the home of his people. Only in his dreams did he walk amongst the giant cedar and Sitka spruce trees that covered every inch of the mountainous islands. Someday, when he had the money, he would go. But he wouldn’t tell his mother. She wouldn’t like it. Just as she’d be upset if she found out he was in Ern’s studio carving tonight instead of studying at the university.

  He jerked his head up at a sudden sound that came from the back of the large, open workroom. He walked to where various lengths of logs lay stacked against the back wall. Although the brightness of the overhead lights didn’t reach this far, he could see well enough with the light from the bridge filtering through the shed’s transparent roof. Nothing looked disturbed. Likely the noise had been made by one of the stray cats that called the shed home.

  He glanced out a back window. The tide was up. A big yacht was churning through the channel into False Creek. The lights of downtown Vancouver hovered beyond.

  He returned to his carving and was soon lost in the flow of the movement. His chisel bit into the outline of the eagle’s beak. He would make it a strong, commanding beak, worthy of the king of birds. He felt a special affinity to the eagle. As a child, when his family vacationed on Galiano Island, he loved to watch them soar with the clouds and wished he could join them. He wondered if he belonged to the Eagle clan, but since he knew nothing about his birth mother, he’d never know. He couldn’t ask his adoptive mother. She wouldn’t know. She wouldn’t think it important.

  He didn’t hear the rustling nor see the shadow moving from behind the stacked logs. He only became aware of a presence when the cold steel of a blade suddenly bit into his throat. By then it was too late. His one thought as he watched his blood gush over his almost perfect eagle was that this was going to make one hell of a story.

  The man stared at the lifeless body. He waited. When he was sure he was alone, he picked up the boy’s adze. Too bad about the kid; he would’ve made a great carver. But the matriarchs would’ve never let him be simply a carver.

  The man continued where the boy had left off, etching the outline of the eagle’s beak ever deeper as the blood flowed into the crease. He would make changes to this eagle. After all, he had a story to tell.

  Two

  This is the famous Bill Reid sculpture The Raven and First Men.”

  Our young female guide pointed to a massive woodcarving squatting on a slab of granite. The morning sun slanting through the dome skylight washed it in an unearthly glow, while at the same time it created shadows that gave the work a menacing, almost predatory aspect.

  A rather well-endowed first man, I thought, chuckling as I ran my eyes over the buttocks and dangling parts of one of the men trapped inside the giant clamshell. A huge raven with a beak that could peck out more than eyes prevented their escape by sitting squarely on top of the shell.

  I turned as I heard another chuckle and saw Eric grinning at me. He knew what I was thinking. He should. Since we’d finally tied the knot, we’d probably spent more time in bed than out of it, and much to the embarrassment of our young guide he now wrapped his arms around me and gave me a resoundingly loud smack on the lips.

  Realizing this wasn’t exactly the kind of reverence we were supposed to be giving such a magnificent piece of art, I extricated myself from his embrace.

  “Bill Reid was Haida, wasn’t he?” I asked.

  “Yup, probably the most famous Haida artist,” replied the young woman, who looked to be in her late teens. Her smile had a nervous hesitancy to it. From the outset she’d acted distracted, as if she’d rather be somewhere else.

  On the recommendation of a colleague of Eric’s, we were taking a tour of the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. It was reputed to have one of the best collections of Northwest Coast native artifacts in the world. We had arrived in Vancouver a couple of days earlier, mainly because Eric was attending the annual general assembly of the Grand Council of First Nations, but also so we could get to know the west coast of Canada better.

  “The Haida, I know, are full of stories. No doubt this carving has its own tale to tell.” Eric raised a questioning brow at the young woman whose rippling ebony tresses and dark eyes suggested she was also native.

  At my insistence, Eric had worn his beaded deerskin jacket instead of the scruffy windbreaker he preferred. I’d felt that it was only fitting that he showed his respect by wearing this beautifully crafted example of Algonquin artistry made by his grandmother for his grandfather.

  “You’re right,” she replied. “The raven is such a trickster, always playing tricks on the world and its creatures. This sculpture depicts the ancient Haida story of creation. According to our legend, the raven found a clamshell on a beach in Haida Gwaii. That’s the Queen Charlotte Islands, in case you don’t know the traditional Haida name.”

  “It means ‘Place of the Haida,’ doesn’t it?” Eric asked.

  “Not quite. It means ‘Islands of the People.’ Gwaii means ‘island’ and Haida ‘people.’”

  Eric ran his
fingers lightly over the bald head of one of the human beings. “What craftsmanship. It feels as smooth as polished stone.”

  “Sorry, you’re not supposed to touch it.” She smiled apologetically then glanced in the direction of voices echoing from outside the rotunda. Nervously biting her lower lip, she stared at the sound for a moment before returning her attention to us.

  “According to our legend, a number of human beings protruded from the clamshell. They didn’t want to leave. The raven toyed with them before finally persuading them to climb out onto the beach. They were the first Haida.”

  “Interesting,” Eric said. “It’s quite different from the Algonquin creation story, which says man—”

  “It’s the one about Turtle Island, isn’t it?” the guide interrupted. “I’ve been studying the creation myths of various First Nations in one of my anthropology classes.”

  “So you’re a student at the university.”

  “I’m in third year anthropology. I wanted to learn more about my own people and the other first peoples of North America. I just volunteer at the museum part-time.”

  “Are your people from the West Coast?”

  “Yup, I’m Haida.”

  “I envy you Bill Reid and other Haida carvers. They’ve done so much to help your people gain a sense of pride in being Haida.”

  “Yeah, I guess they have. Art’s always been a key part of our culture. I’ll show you some more awesome examples of Haida art in the Great Hall.”

  She led us down a ramp and into a cavernous room filled with light, the sun’s rays slanting through staggered glass walls. Monumental totem poles filled the room. They stretched up to the ceiling, their wood silvered, their carvings eroded by weather and time. A group of young men and women, some native, some not, were scattered amongst them. A number sat cross-legged on the hard stone floor, while others perched on small folding stools. All were drawing in sketchbooks. They stopped talking as we approached.

  Our guide greeted them, running her eyes from one student to the next as if searching for someone. “Where’s Allistair?” she asked.

  A pudgy young man with a brush cut and nose ring shrugged, while a young woman in glued-on jeans with a turquoise and bone choker clasped around her neck said, “We waited for him, but he never showed.”

  “I guess he got caught up in class,” our guide replied. I sensed both disappointment and relief behind her words.

  “Are these fellow anthropology students?” Eric asked.

  “No, they’re studying at the Emily Carr University of Art. They come here to learn about the ancient art of carving and the stories depicted on these old poles.”

  “That’s on Granville Island, isn’t it?” I asked.

  Nodding absently, she pulled out her phone and started to dial. But she changed her mind and returned it to her pocket.

  “We passed the school yesterday. It’s down the road from where we’re staying,” I said, feeling the need to fill up the strained silence.

  Continuing to ignore us, she pulled out her phone again and stared at it for a few seconds before returning it once more to her pocket.

  “Please go ahead and make your call,” I said. “We’ll take a look at those poles over there to give you a bit of privacy.”

  “Sorry. It’s nothing. I’ll call later.” She smiled wistfully. “He probably won’t answer anyway.”

  “Oh dear, man problems?”

  “Yah, what else. But hey, I’ll cook him his favourite meal and we’ll be golden, eh? Isn’t that what love’s about?”

  “You know the old saying: The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

  “Or, as in our case, the woman’s heart.” Eric wrapped his arm around my waist and held me close. How true. No matter how grumpy or annoyed I was, he could always cheer me up with a sumptuous meal. I kissed his cheek with a renewed surge of love and then stepped back, not wanting to upset our guide further. Although she was laughing with us, I still sensed her underlying pain.

  “What can you tell us about these poles?” Eric asked, pointing to a nearby line of towering giants. “A friend told me to make sure I saw them. Apparently one of her Haida ancestors carved one of them.”

  “Do you know her ancestral village?”

  “She didn’t give an actual name, but said it was near the southern tip of Haida Gwaii.”

  “That’s where my ancestral village of SGang Gwaay is located. What was the woman’s name? Chances are she’s a relative, eh?”

  “Louise O’Brien.”

  The young woman laughed. “She’s my auntie. Not exactly a relative, but a close family friend. Her village isn’t far from mine. Let me show you the pole she was talking about.”

  She led us to a corner of the vast room, where two of the shorter poles stood side-by-side, one braced against the glass wall and the other against a cement pillar. She pointed to the smaller of the two, although smaller hardly described its massive breadth. “This is the one from Louise’s village. It’s a very good example of a frontal pole.” Her face beamed with pride.

  “Such a magnificent heritage,” Eric said wistfully. He craned his neck to study the chiseled features of what looked to be a man-sized bird with two huge eyes peering over a hole in its face. The figure squatted on top of a curious four-legged creature perched on its haunches.

  “What do you mean by frontal pole?” I asked.

  “There are actually three types of totem poles. The frontal poles are the ones with the most carvings. They were placed at the entrance to a longhouse, usually one belonging to a chief. They proclaimed the highborn status of the chief and told a story about him. That’s what the carved figures, or crests, as we call them, are about.” She pointed to the top bird-like figure. “This is an eagle. Notice how large the eyes are. We Haida have a thing for making our eagle eyes very bold, unlike other Northwest Coast nations.” She laughed again, and now seemed more relaxed.

  She pointed to the hole. “We like to make the beaks bold too. There was probably once a large pointed one protruding from this hole. The eagle means that this pole likely belonged to a chief of the Eagle clan, which makes sense, since Louise’s village was an Eagle clan village. The other—”

  A tune I recognized as an Arcade Fire song cut her off and had her scrambling for her phone. But the eager anticipation reflected on her face vanished when she read the caller’s name. She slipped it back into her pocket without answering.

  I mouthed to Eric, “Not the boyfriend.”

  Squeezing my hand, he whispered in my ear, “Love’s never easy, is it?”

  “It sure ain’t,” I replied, remembering our own tumultuous times.

  Eric turned back to the young woman. “Do you know how old this pole is? It looks to have weathered many a storm.”

  “No one knows for certain, but since Louise’s village was abandoned in the late 1800s, it’s at least that old, likely older. The same goes for most of the other poles in this exhibit.”

  “I guess if they had remained in the villages, they would have disintegrated long ago,” I said.

  “Yup, back to Mother Earth where they really belong. But the archeologists wanted to preserve them, so they took them, mostly in the first half of the 1900s. Because the poles were so large, many were cut into sections for easier removal. This one was probably triple if not quadruple this height.”

  “Were they taken with the approval of the Haida?” Eric asked.

  She shrugged, although I thought I detected a flash of anger in her eyes. “You probably know from your own tribe’s experience that we rarely had an option. Sure, some Haida were just as keen on preserving them as the archeologists. But I think most were just taken. Since people no longer lived in the villages, no one was around to stop them.”

  She started walking toward a doorway. “Come, I want to show you some mortuary boxes.” She led us into a smaller room filled with an assortment of wooden masks and boxes. She stopped beside a box about the size of a wine carton. Made fro
m a reddish wood, which I took to be red cedar, its sides were elaborately decorated with a variety of carved creatures. Though the painted features had faded with age, I imagined at one time the brightness of the reds, greens, and blacks would have made them seem almost alive.

  “A chief from my ancestral village was once buried in this mortuary box. I think one of my ancestors made it.”

  “You must be proud to see it displayed in this museum,” I said.

  “Yes and no. It’s an awesome example of a bentwood box, but I don’t like how it got here.”

  “Are you saying it was stolen?” Eric asked.

  “It had to be. These mortuary boxes are sacred. There’s no way anyone in the clan would have agreed to it being removed from the village.”

  “Because it contained human remains,” Eric said, more as a statement than a question.

  “Exactly.”

  “Do you know what happened to the remains, if they were treated with respect?”

  “Respect? You’ve got to be kidding. There are supposed to be hundreds of human remains stored away somewhere in the bowels of the museum, just like any other artifact.”

  “But if people were buried inside these boxes, why would anyone want to take them?” I asked.

  “Because the thieves thought they might contain treasure. Our chiefs liked to be buried with some of their valuables.”

  “Like gold and silver?”

  “I suppose the archeologists thought so, but they would’ve got one whopping surprise when they opened the boxes. The most valuable thing would’ve been bits of abalone shell. Gold wasn’t exactly on the radar back then.”

  At that point a young woman with blond braids and a gauzy floor-length skirt poked her head into the room. She appeared to be crying.

  “Becky,” she called out hoarsely. “Can you come here a sec?”

  “What’s up?” our guide asked as she joined her. The blonde placed her arm around Becky’s shoulders and began whispering into her ear.