Orca Rescue
Tim Paul
Nuu-Chah-Nulth Red cedar, paint
21½” x 17½” x 4”

Orca Rescue

Tim Paul
Nuu-Chah-Nulth 

Red cedar, paint
21½” x 17½” x 4”

$6200

"In the old days, when big earthquakes or tsunamis threatened us, our people would anchor themselves to the land. When they knew that an earthquake or tsunami was going to come, they’d prepare cedar rope and tie their canoe to a rock. There’s a place not too far from my home where a big boulder sits. My relatives made miles and miles of rope to anchor themselves to it. Sometimes they’d break loose because of the powerful churning of the waters and they'd drift away or to different parts of the land.

Once in our history, the seas were so rough during a great storm that a canoe of people broke loose and drifted way off into the sea. They floated away from the land and for many days could not see the shore. They were almost ready to give up when suddenly a large Orca came along and entangled itself into the cedar ropes that were hanging from their canoe. The great Orca began to swim and it brought them back to their homeland and back to their beach."