A Meeting of Chiefs - Poster
Stegyawden, a Tsimshian Indian name meaning, ‘painted goat', is a mountain located on the Skeena River near Hazelton, British Columbia. The mighty Skeena itself is known to its first travellers, the Tsimshian Indians, as K'sian, meaning ‘juice from the clouds'.
Many stories and legends are told of Stegyawden and K'sian. One in particular refers to the legendary village of Temleham, located at the base of Stegyawden on the banks of K'sian. So powerful and influential were its people, and so majestic, spiritual and beautiful were the surroundings, that the village of Temleham became known to all Indian Nations as a very important and proper place to meet. Chiefs from all West Coast Indian Nations would travel many perilous miles to congregate at Temleham.
Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, Bella Coola, Kwakiult, and Nuu Cha Nulth - all would attend. Many elaborate and impressive feasts were held. Friendships and alliances developed and differences were settled.
Temleham was appropriate. It was the location that the ancients had chosen and created to serve as a place of peace for all nations.
In the swirling mists of the mighty K'sian, one can, even today, sense the presence of those wise chiefs. Their spirit and wisdom lives on, and their beautiful West Coast of Canada still serves today as a majestic and spiritual meeting place, a proper setting for A Meeting of Chiefs.
(This painting was commissioned by the Province of British Columbia on the occasion of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Vancouver in October, 1987. The original painting was presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by the honorable William Vander Zalm, Premier of the Province of British Columbia. Limited edition prints were presented by the Provincial Government to the Commonwealth Heads of State.)