Cultural treasures In addition to totem poles, we admired masks, carvings, stone and wooden utensils, paintings, sculptures and ceremonial objects. Baskets – so tightly woven that they held water without leaking – and the shaman’s headdress made from grizzly bear claws were especially fascinating. Informative videos described a totem pole-raising at the museum’s Carving Shed, the early days of halibut fishing and Indigenous weaving. We admired works by Ts’msyen weaver William White. During the museum’s 1996 exhibit of his cedar bark and textile weavings, William wove the first Ts’msyen Raven’s Tail robe created since European contact. (Made from white mountain goat wool, these ceremonial robes feature black-and-white geometric designs.) Archaeological artifacts in the museum include a petroglyph from the region and a replica of The Man Who Fell from Heaven (not currently on display). Numerous Ts’msyen oral histories explain the origins of the curious human impression embedded in stone on the rocky shores of Metlakatla, seven kilometres northwest of Prince Rupert. David Archer, a retired anthropology instructor at Coast Mountain College, did 18 seasons of archaeological work in the Prince Rupert area and on its offshore islands. He notes that the region has close to 200 recorded archaeological sites, but the inventory is not yet complete, so there are likely more sites that are not yet identified and recorded. Ts’msyen weaver, William White Museum of Northern B.C. has a replica of this Man Who Fell from Heaven petroglyph One of the petroglyphs found in the Prince Rupert region 20 | www.snowbirds.org Travel
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