Artist Honored by First Nations
On the 14 of June 2017 the Chief Dan George Middle School in Abbotsford BC, in a full school assembly, had an Traditional Sto:lo Honor Ceremony to honor the Fraser Valley Lodge for the donation of a stone Sculpture of Chief Dan George and the artist Gerald Sandau of Chilliwack for making it. The ceremony was complete with First Nations drummers, singers and speakers, including a Band Chief from Mission, who personally knew Dan George.
Man charged with stealing the sculpture
This is the reporter, Patrick Penner's picture of the stolen sculpture siting in the Mission Pawn Shop.
This is the Artist's picture of the Sculpture as it appeared on the Artist's werb site when it was made.
Charges have now been laid in the theft of a sculpture of Chief Dan George from the Chief Dan George Middle School in Abbotsford BC and its sale to a Mission pawn shop. The Man was charged Friday (Sept. 13 Sep. 2019 ) with theft over $5,000, according to the provincial court database. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in Abbotsford provincial court on Oct. 21. The date of the offence is listed as July 2, 2018. The one-of-a-kind sculpture – valued at $8,000 – was made by artist Gerald Sandau of Chilliwack and was purchased by Fraser River Lodge in Agassiz. The lodge, in turn, donated the piece to Chief Dan George Middle School in Abbotsford, B.C. in 2017. But when Sandau visited the school on June 26 ,2019, he noticed it was missing from its display case. He then found out that the sculpture had been moved into storage because the multi-purpose room close to where it was being displayed was undergoing renovations. But a search of the school, storage and school grounds after Sandau questioned its disappearance failed to turn up the piece. Sandau approached Abbotsford News Reporter Patric Penner with the story. School officials filed a police report on July 4. Following news reports on the matter, including pictures of the missing sculpture, a man reported on social media that he had seen the item in the Mission City Pawn Shop. Police went to the location and retrieved the piece. The owner of the pawn shop later told the Abbotsford News that he had purchased the item a year earlier – on July 20, 2018 – for $1,000. He said he had no idea the artwork was stolen. – wit The Abbotsford News files from Patrick Penner
Gerald's story behind this Sculpture
Figures on the sculpture: The Creators Hand, Waters for Life, Mussel shell with infant, Salmon, Bear, Wolf, Gray Whale & Calf, Orca & Calf, Dolphin and an Eagle.
The Circle of Life
Of
West Coast First Nations
A 500 year old artifact unearthed recently matches a storyhanded down through generations
about the creation of life: Mucus from a weeping mother’s nose falls on a mussel shell and becomean Infant.
The Hand of the Great Spirit sustains all life with a never-endingFlow of fresh water.
Wood and water are mystically linked. Because a Cedar can become a canoe, the people can harvest the sea.
Because an Elk’s antlers can be carved to hold a harpoon blade of a sharpened mussel shell, a Gray Whale can
be captured. Because the cry of a Wolf so echoes the cry of the Killer Whale the people feel that this is the
same animal, using one body for land and another for sea.The gifts of the Wolf and the Killer Whale show the
people strong hunting skills and a strong sense of the family and the tribal way of life. Of all the sea creatures the
Gray Whale is the most important. Irt’s gifts are oil and meat for food, sinew for making harpoons, giant bones that
can be shaped into weapons and utensils. The Bear’s gift to the People is his strength and courage. The Dolphin plays
with and protects the children when they swim in the ocean. The Eagle is the most sacred of all, its said to be the only
creature that has seen the face of the Creator. The majestic bird caries the spirits of those that have passed over to
join the spirits of their ancestors, leaving the weeping Mothers to continue the circle of life.
Gerald J Sandau
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