After eight months of work, Peter and Hailey George unveiled the refurbished sign welcoming visitors to School District 57's administration building at 2100 Ferry Ave on Tuesday, June 3.
Peter, a Wet’suwet’en artist who first carved the sign honouring the Indigenous communities within School District 57 more than two decades ago, was commissioned by Supt. Jameel Aziz to restore it with his daughter Hailey in November.
After speeches from dignitaries, including Lheidli T’enneh Elder Vivian Francis, Chief Dolleen Logan, and Coun. Tasheena Seymour, and a performance by drummers from Nusdeh Yoh Elementary School, a sheet was peeled off to reveal the sign’s brightly restored colours and iconography.
The artists explained that the cedar used to create the sign was obtained from the McBride area by Norm Monroe, who was then the head of what was called Aboriginal Education.
The animals depicted on the sign represent the clans that existed in the area before Europeans made contact with locals — wolf and bear, beaver and grouse, and frog — as well as a newer clan, caribou.
Also depicted is an eagle, which Peter said is a universal symbol of peace and friendship used by nearly every Indigenous group in North America. The last creature on the sign is a salmon, symbolizing peace and prosperity.
“We used eagle down in our feast hall, and when it was used, everything that was discussed in that feast was law, and everything that needed to be said had to happen that day,” Peter said.
On the left edge of the sign is a red handprint, taken from Peter’s right hand, which he uses to create his art.
After the refurbishment, two more handprints were added to the central part of the sign, where the words “School District 57” are written. One is Hailey’s, after she apprenticed with her father for the first time during the restoration. The other is from Peter’s daughter Stephanie, who, he said, helped with every carving he did in her lifetime.
Speaking to reporters after the unveiling, Peter thanked Supt. Jameel Aziz and Asst. Supt. Pam Spooner for inviting him to restore his original work.
He said he was pleased that Hailey wanted to take part in the process and learn from him.
“If I’m being honest with you, I’ve just about cried a few times,” Hailey said of becoming part of her father’s legacy. “I will be able to look at this sign for the rest of my life and see my dad’s handprint, my handprint, and my sister’s handprint on it. That gives me so much pride. Not just pride, but Indigenous pride.”
Hailey added that she’d like for the sign to stay a family project and, when the time comes, to restore it again. She also expressed a desire to involve her children, if she has any, in the process.
Peter said it was “huge” to have the Nusdeh Yoh students present, as involving children is the first step in teaching Indigenous culture and language.
After the sign was unveiled, Clayton Gauthier — another apprentice of Peter’s — was invited to perform a smudging ceremony for the new sign. Gauthier invited the drummers from Nusdeh Yoh to stand around him and perform the drumbeat of Mother Earth as he blessed it.
During his remarks, Aziz said unveiling the restored sign was a fitting start to National Indigenous History Month.
“SD57 has been engaged in acts of truth and reconciliation for quite a long time, but the restoration of this sign and Mr. George’s involvement in that process, I hope, marks another positive step on our journey to support students in their education and demonstrate to the community that we are truly committed to truth and reconciliation,” Aziz said.
Spooner concluded the ceremony by acknowledging the chiefs, matriarchs, and the children who will grow up to be chiefs in the Gitxsan language.
“That’s what these kids are,” Spooner said. “They’re witnessing the work that’s being done today, so one day they can be those chiefs as well. Remember, all our actions and words are being heard by the kids who are here, so we as a group and an organization know that we have a commitment to do better and be better.”
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