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In its life the totem pole, Ilchinik, will go through a number of ceremonies.
The first of these was as a tree growing in a forest. This was a very personal and private 'ceremony': Tim Paul, the master craftsman, having chosen the tree that he wanted to carve the pole from, even before cutting the tree down, dedicated a prayer to the tree, to "educate" it about its chosen life, to let it know that it would be coming to England, and most importantly that it was not going to suffer. In this prayer the tree is reconnected to 'Light', the creator. The light which illuminates our world now is thought by the Nuu-chah-nulth to be the same light that has lit the world since the beginning of time. It is common to all history. In doing this the tree is filled with life and all history. Before the totem pole started on its journey there was a ceremony to wish the pole "fair wind", that it would have a safe journey. This ceremony puts the pole into a state of unconciousness for travelling. Tim Paul, who will begin carving in Exeter tomorrow, explained today's ceremony of opening of the eyes saying, "We are reconnecting to our ancestors... we meet here to bring the pole slowly back to life, breathing into the cedar our names and our history, our family and you; you are all going to be a part of it as well, that's the whole ceremony." In the ceremony a number of 'cica' or chants are sung to summon all the Nuu-chah-nulth ancestors to be present at the ceremony so that nothing will go wrong and to ensure everything is "done right". Two 'cica' were sung. These were not only to wake the pole up, and to open the poles' eyes to its story and life, but also to wake the people up to the pole. Through these 'cica' a mutual bond is established between the pole and the people. The pole continues to be filled with life throughout the exhibition in Exeter: it is our responsibility, all of us to breathe life into the pole. We are all part of the pole, and the pole is part of all of us. The ceremony included two 'cica'. Extracts from these can be heard here.
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First 'cica': awakening This first 'cica' awakened the pole after its journey, and called on the Nuu-chah-nulth ancestors to join in the ceremony and the life of the pole.
Second 'cica' (clip 1)(158KBytes real audio file) In this 'cica' the pole's life is celebrated, Nuu-chah-nulth and Devon people together danced before the 'opened eyes of the pole' in this way becoming part of the life of the pole.
After the ceremony all present were able to take a close look at the pole for the first time. The pole as you can see will be lying horizontally on its back, while it is carved. |
