The parliament building
in Victoria has an interesting history. We toured with a docent. The rotunda
has a lovely mosaic floor and the murals, painted in the 1930s, depict the
area’s history. Only 25 years old,
Francis Rattenbury, won the
architectural contest over 67 architects. . He signed his drawings B C
Architect, so the committee thought he was a local boy. From Yorkshire, England,
he showed other works that had been completed before he was born! Later he designed over 100 buildings in British
Columbia including the Empress hotel.
The building cost $920,000, including the
overruns. However, between 1972-84, the renovation cost a hundred million
dollars. At night 3333 lights illuminate the building. The lights went up in
1897 and it was not until 1976 that they were replaced.
The original stain glass window, showing
the coat of arms, was made in Yorkshire, England and shipped in molasses. It
was removed in 1911 to make an entryway into the new library wing of the
building. The window was lost in the basement for 62 years until it was found
in 1974. Now it is installed in the foyer.
The blue represents the ocean, and the
white represents the snow on the mountains. The red in the flag represents the
patriots. The splendor sine occasu
translates: beauty without ceasing.
The sides of the U shaped legislature
table are exactly 2 ½ sword lengths apart, allowing for a ½ sword length if both
sides should take up arms. The legislature is never in session without the
mace, a medieval spiked club, being in place. Bigger than a gavel, it is
strictly ceremonial, but a custom still in use.
Jade
is the Provincial stone. Queen Victoria
named Victoria
in 1858.
The second floor of the rotunda is a
memorial to past legislators. Italian craftsmen laid the mosaic floor using
one- inch square stones.
Rattenbury, the designer, met a tragic
end. He was bludgeoned to death in England by his second wife and her
young chauffeur/lover. A big trial took place at the Old Bailey. She was
acquitted, but three days later she committed suicide by walking into a river
and stabbing herself six times.
The chauffeur was sentenced to death, but
later his sentence was commuted to life in prison. However, he was released to
fight in WW II. He survived the war and lived in isolation in England.
STORY
POLES
Spanish explorers thought North American Indians in
Canada worshiped their story poles, so they called them totems, which in
Spanish means idol. Of course none of
that was true. The totems tell a story and often record family history, so
today story poles is the correct
terminology.
In Canada the term First
Nation’s People has replaced the use of Indian, aborigines, and indigenous,
all words used in the past to describe the nation’s first inhabitants.
Story poles are more common in some places than others,
as the custom of carving was more common among certain tribes or bands of
people. The giant red cedar tree is the tree commonly used for carving a story
pole, so proximity to them was a large factor influencing the craft. The tree
with the stringy bark can grow 200-feet tall.
Story poles depict the relationship between man, animals,
celestial bodies, plants and landscapes and how they can intermingle and
change. A person, clan, band, or tribe differs from another the same way as a
dog differs from a cat.
To say
“I am a Raven” means I am from the Raven clan/band. The Raven ranks high on the
story pole as he oversees man and the creatures below. He is also the guardian
of the carver, its strong beak is feared both by man and other creatures.
The
Eagle is the symbol of the Haida
tribe, and his flight honors the past while soaring into the future. He is the
strongest of all creatures because he has the largest wings, sharpest eyes,
controls the sky, can cause storms, lightning and thunder. Sometimes he is
called the thunderbird.
No comments:
Post a Comment