With the rain pouring down on the Uchucklesaht village of Ethlateese, young Taylor Johnson carefully circles a newly unveiled totem pole on Aug. 15. Her elders watch, reciting a chant in a ceremony to reawaken the pole.
“We have to reopen the eyes,” explained carver Tim Paul, who led a handful of other artists in the totem’s creation over the better part of a year. “We had a closing of the eyes ceremony before travel down here, so we need to reopen the eyes of our grandparent. But also we need to make it come alive.”
On the mid-August morning dozens of others watched, as the rain seemed to come as an answer to a prayer. After a particularly dry spring and summer, forest fires had recently broken out on Vancouver Island, including the explosive Mount Underwood blaze that grew to over 3,400 hectares in a few days north of Ethlateese by the Alberni Inlet.
Including those who watched the young girl circle the freshly carved red cedar was Charlie Cootes Sr. The pole was erected in front of the Ethlateese wellness centre in his honour, recognizing a political career that spanned from 1967 to late 2023 in the service of his nation.
“It’s a small nation with a big footprint,” said the former chief councillor after the ceremony. “I’m so glad that I’m retired because our young people are doing what I was dreaming: stepping up and taking up leadership roles.”
For half a century Cootes was re-elected to represent his nation so many times he came to appear like a permanent fixture in the chief councillor role, leading the small tribe – which currently numbers just over 250 members – into a modern era of self-sufficiency.
Uchucklesaht is among the few First Nations in British Columbia to adopt a modern-day treaty. Implemented April 1, 2011, the Maa-nulth Final Agreement brought five Nuu-chah-nulth nations out from under the Indian Act, bringing a total of $73.1 million (in 2006 dollars) in capital transfer payments, 24,550 hectares of treaty settlement land and full authority under Canadian law.
Since then, Uchucklesaht made significant property investments in Port Alberni, including opening the $8-million multi-use Thunderbird Building in 2016. Two years later Uchucklesaht bought the former Redford School, a sprawling complex of office spaces, gymnasium and field that covers an entire city block. Renamed Nucci, much of the building is being rented by departments of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, while Uchucklesaht plans to build over 100 housing units in the space behind.
“Make it - if you can - so that by expanding our footprint it makes us self-sustaining,” said Cootes during the celebration. “Our Thunderbird Building is mortgaged by all the apartments that we rent out. Nucci supports itself by all the offices that we rent out.”
Ethlateese has also seen significant development. In recent years all homes in the remote village have been replaced with 14 new units. Now anywhere from half a dozen to as much as 30 people reside in the village at any given time.
At the event Cootes’ stepbrother Stan Lucas reflected on how Ethlateese transformed over the long-serving politician’s tenure.
“The last time I was down here was the late ‘60s. There were only three houses down here,” said Lucas. “It’s always a good feeling, the best feeling, especially when the rain comes down like this, to cleanse it, to purify it.”
Overlooking the village are five mountain peaks, known as The Thunderbirds Nest – an area that sees more annual rainfall than anywhere in North America. During the event Cootes was thanked for his role in protecting The Thunderbirds Nest from being logged, and the pole contains representations of the eldest thunderbird, maamiiqsu, atop the youngest, qałaatik.
“We’re related to nature, our relative,” explained Paul. “We treat and take care for with the utmost power and respect that we have as a people.”
“It’s always, always the greatest honour as an artist to bring history, to bring family cultural teaching alive,” continued the carver. “You stand in front of it and you feel the power and the presence of ancestors gone before us.”
For the first time, the ceremony also brought Cootes a Nuu-chah-nulth name, muuČinʔaqƛ. Pronounced ‘moo-chin-achlt’, it means ‘four directions’.
“I’m so grateful to have all the people who are here today to experience this,” he said.
