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Highway of Tears memorial totem pole to be raised tomorrow

Attendance limited due to COVID-19 safety precautions, but event will stream online
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Artist Mike Dangeli sketches a figure on the Highway of Tears memorial totem pole he is carving under a tent in his back yard in Terrace on July 22. (Jake Wray/Terrace Standard)

A totem pole in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls will be raised just off Hwy 16 on Kitsumkalum territory west of Terrace tomorrow, Sept. 4.

Read more: Highway of Tears memorial totem pole to be raised on Kitsumkalum territory west of Terrace

Attendance will be quite limited because of COVID-19 precautions, but the raising will be livestreamed through CFNR’s Facebook page starting at 9 a.m.

Organizers had originally planned hold a “virtual potlach” on Sept. 5, with dancers, matriarchs and chiefs visiting in small groups to breathe life into the totem pole. That second day of ceremony has since been cancelled, following a possible COVID-19 exposure at gatherings including a feast in Nisga’a territory.

Read more: Nisga’a Nation enacts emergency measures after possible COVID-19 exposure

The Terrace Standard will have a full story about the totem pole raising next week.



jake.wray@terracestandard.com

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