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House post donation from Brad Assu ’83
More than 40 years after he graduated from Shawnigan Lake School, Brad Assu ’83 (Lonsdale’s) is preparing to give back to the School in a big way.
A member of the We Wai Kai First Nation from Cape Mudge on Quadra Island and an accomplished carver, Brad (traditional name Poo Glee Dee) announced at the Chapel Gathering preceding the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation that he will be gifting a pair of 20-foot-tall house posts to Shawnigan – a phenomenal donation in gratitude for the five years he spent at the School.
“At least once a week, I talk to someone about Shawnigan and the profound influence it had over my life,” said Brad, who is first mate on the K’ulut’a that sails between Campbell River and Quadra Island, in addition to being a carver. “Shawnigan has a place in my heart, and I believe it was the foundation for my success.”
Brad and his three older brothers still treasure their time at Shawnigan, and the Assu family are believers in the power of education. Brad still remembers Mr. Don Rolston, Mr. Lance Bean, Mr. Mark Hobson, and Mr. Rolf Grass as creative influences in his life. He developed a lifelong love of rugby at Shawnigan, and became a rower and learned to sail. Brad’s wife, Margot, also has a connection to Shawnigan, as she is a cousin of alum and Board of Governors member Rick Bourne ’69 (Copeman’s).
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The house posts that Brad is donating to Shawnigan are replicas of two posts that were carved in 1910 by Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw artist Johnny Kla-wat-chi for Chief Billy Assu – Brad’s great-grandfather and a respected leader of the We Wai Kai. In the 1930s, the posts were removed and shipped to the museum in Ottawa that is now known as the National Museum of History.
In 2012, the Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre in Cape Mudge, where Brad’s father, Don, was President, began negotiating with the National Museum of History for the return of the house posts. With the idea that they could offer replica totems to the museum as part of the negotiations, Brad and his friend Ted McKellar began carving reproductions.
In 2015, Brad travelled to Ottawa with Jodi Simkin, the Executive Director of the cultural centre, to take photos and measurements of some of the intricate details of the posts. While there, they were asked why the community didn’t just raise the replicas. As Brad explained in his chapter of the book Knowledge Within: Treasures of the West Coast, “Billy Assu’s legacy is carried through his son Harry to my father, Don, to me, and now to my children and eventually to their children. Billy Assu believed in the power and beauty of our traditions and culture and the important role both of these things play in creating a healthy, balanced, and prosperous community for everyone. To leave his poles in Ottawa was akin to ignoring his strength and resolve, and that of Harry and my father as well. So, although the replicas do justice to the originals, they cannot replace the historic significance or value of Johnny Kla-wat-chi’s carvings.”
Before Brad and Jodi left Ottawa, the museum determined that it would return the house posts to the We Wai Kai, and the posts were repatriated in 2015. However, the museum declined the offer of the replicas, and, inspired by his return to Shawnigan for Founder’s Day with the Class of ’83 in 2023, Brad has decided to donate them to the School.
The School will take care of relocating the posts to Shawnigan sometime in the coming years. One is not yet finished, but Brad is looking forward to finishing it with the assistance of the School community, working as carver in residence. The posts are intended to be displayed indoors, so the School will take care to determine the location of the poles once they are finished. Two groups of students – the Outdoor Leadership and Development Club, and the November Break Trip – will be visiting Brad’s workshop on Quadra Island this fall to learn about the origin of the poles and receive an introduction to the art of carving.
In addition to the donation of the house posts, Brad has offered to carve a totem pole for Kaye Gardens that will reflect his family’s long and deep association with Shawnigan.
“Thank you to Brad for this extraordinary gift to Shawnigan,” said Head of School Mr. Richard “Larry” Lamont. “I feel very honoured that, as an alum, he wants to give his creations to us to serve as an educational resource for future generations of Shawnigan students.”
We acknowledge with respect the Coast Salish Peoples on whose traditional lands and waterways we live, learn and play. We are grateful for the opportunity to share in this beautiful region, and we aspire to healthy and respectful relationships with those who have lived on and cared for these lands for millennia.
Shawnigan Lake School is an independent co-educational boarding school for ages 13 –18 on Canada’s beautiful West Coast. Our diverse, interdisciplinary and innovative programming helps shape the next generation of global leaders.
