A smooth bright sun with four spokes jutting out from the orb rests upon a raven, a symbol in this instance of education. At the bottom is a wolf and in between are two swimming salmon. The wolf is the legacy of the grad class. Of the two salmon, the bigger one leads the smaller, representing the community’s guiding role in the students’ educational journey.
As for the sun on the top of the pole, “the sun works nicely as we just installed 324 solar panels at the school. So we’ll always have sun,” said Chris Lekakis, principal of Pender Harbour Elementary/Secondary.
On June 15, members of shíshálh Nation, school district officials, politicians, students and the general public celebrated the raising of a second totem pole at the school. The two poles replace non-traditional poles removed from its entrance because of safety concerns.
“This one kind of closed a bit of a story,” said Lekakis of the event, which was overseen by shíshálh master carver Arnold Jones and featured a welcoming ceremony and blessing by members of shíshálh Nation, including Andy Johnson and Rita Poulsen. The mid-70s carver also oversaw the carving of another pole that was raised at the school last June and which had been in the works since 2014.
Even though the Pender Harbour school has a small student body, with 80 students from grades 7 to 12, the project has been ongoing for about five years and “at the end of the day there were a couple hundred at least” who were involved, Lekakis said.
At the start of the project, the pole was located outside but was later brought indoors to shelter it and students from the elements and incorporated into the school’s shop program, which Lekakis said helped move the project forward. “It became a unifying theme in the school and was always there if you wanted to take a break and work on it.”
The pole doesn’t tell a traditional story. Instead, the students worked together to choose the figures carved into the cedar. “The way Arnie asked the kids is, ‘What do they want to see on the pole, what do they want it to represent?’” Lekakis said. “So they had a lot of input.”
Lekakis called the raising “a sign of the community coming together,” especially at a time when the community has experienced some divisions because of the controversial Pender Harbour Dock Management Plan, which gives the province and shíshálh Nation joint authority over dock installations in the area.
“I think these kinds of ceremonies with the school population is absolutely critical for us going forward,” said Frank Mauro, Sunshine Coast Regional District director for Area A.
Lekakis said he has received positive feedback from residents of Pender Harbour. “I know there has been some negative dialogues that have happened in the past around the dock management piece, but in this piece it was a very educational, very affirming, very happy celebration.”
