There were many pieces placed in the box that reflected an awareness of and a respect for the First Peoples of these lands.
 | A cockle rattle with whale flukes, perhaps in the style of the Nuu-Chah-nulth people of the west coast of Vancouver Island. |
 | There were many eagles feathers present in the box, most with some kind of wrappings, usually of cedar, around the feather’s shaft. |
 | The talking stick, made by Dan Peters (2004 cohort), is made of birds-eye maple, a tree native to Dan’s home along the north shore of Lake Superior in Ontario, and is topped with a cedar hat in the tradition of people from the west coast of Vancouver Island. Also present is a mask given to the 2006 cohort when they lived, for a week during their their second residency, at Cougar Annie’s Garden on the Hesquiaht Peninsula in the traditional territory of the Hesquiaht First Nations. The late Hesquiaht hereditary Chief Matlahoah (Dominic Andrews) presented the King of the Sea mask that he had carved to the cohort. Later, Dr. Rick Kool wrote to Chief Andrews “We were, and are, very moved by the Chief of the Sea mask. Your story about how the Chief doesn’t like greedy people resonated very strongly with my students: we don’t seem to like greedy people either, and are aware that many of our environmental problems stem from things like human greed. We’ll take care of your Chief mask, Nick, and think of you often as we look at the mask and think about its message.”  |