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Lt. Governor Owen
speaks at an Oct. 6 ceremony marking the return of the
Stone T'Xwelátse
from the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in
Seattle to the Nooksack tribe in Whatcom County.
The 4-foot-high,
600-pound sculpture is regarded by British Columbia's
Chilliwack tribe to be an ancient ancestor, a medicine
man who was transformed to stone. T'Xwelátse
been at the Burke since 1904, but is being repatriated
to the Nooksacks under a federal act. The Nooksacks will
formally return the artifact to the
Sto:Lo First Nation at a ceremony in Canada later
this month.
Below, Herb Joe,
the family "name carrier" of the T'Xwelátse,
presents a cedar cape covering of the stone by tribal
members. (Staff photos) |
