Two Indigenous Thunderbirds landed in downtown Tofino on Earth Day, April 22.
Tofino in Tla-o-qui-aht territory is now their permanent home, and they reflect the community’s history, identity and respect for one another, according to the district.
One Thunderbird can be seen emerging into a rainbow on the sidewalk in front of the Clayoquot Sound Theatre along Campbell Street, while the second Thunderbird spread its wings along the crosswalk heading to Anchor Park lookout at Third Street and Main.
“The Thunderbird is the overseer of everything,” says Nuu-chah-nulth artist Nicki Love, who created the design for the Thunderbird over the rainbow.
“I knew right away I wanted it to be a Thunderbird,” she said.
“The way it’s situated, it’s emerging. That’s why it’s not the full scale of the Thunderbird, it’s emerging. It’s literally coming into the rainbow rather than coming out. I always say I didn’t come out; I came into my authentic being,” said Love.
Hjalmer Wenstob designed the Thunderbird at the crossing to Anchor Park. The District of Tofino is referring to the street art installation as a “reconciliation crosswalk”.
Wenstob said he created his Thunderbird without knowing Love was creating her Thunderbird, but incidentally he said he was told by an elder that artists are “always supposed to do Thunderbirds as a set so they have a partner”.
“It was just meant to be to have more Thunderbirds in the territory. It’s very fitting. Even though we didn’t plan it, I guess it was just meant to be,” he said.
Wenstob comes from Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation on his father’s side, and his design features two Lightning Snakes on the wings of a Thunderbird. He says it’s a simplified portrayal of the story of the Great Flood that happened in the Tla-o-qui-aht territory.
“This history proceeds the dark side of our recent history,” said Wenstob.
“Our people go the top of what is now called Lone Cone Mountain and this great flood comes and wipes out our village. After a time, the waters recede and we are gifted a whale and that’s what we use to survive on. We go through a test for that to be given to us,” he shared.
The Thunderbird brings thunder and storms and it also brings lightning by throwing the Lightning Snakes like a spear, said Wenstob.
“It’s a snapshot of that story with the Thunderbird and the snakes,” said Wenstob, noting that the Lightning Snake is Tla-o-qui-aht’s crest.
District of Tofino culture and events programmer Karen Habib said the pair of Thunderbirds came to life with Resort Municipality Initiative (RMI) funding.
“The district values fostering a community that is inclusive. The two designs both serve very important purposes and represent communities that are important to Tofino. It’s a project that supports inclusion and represents the fabric of the community,” said Habib.
“We’ve had lots of really positive feedback. The community is all-in for this,” she said.
Habib went on to note that the district involved representatives from Tla-o-qui-aht and Coast Queer Alliance throughout the design selection process.
Love says the Thunderbird coming into a rainbow is a symbol for safety.
“It’s like my prayer came alive,” said Love, who calls herself a “queer granny” to many adopted queers.
“I wanted the visibility to happen for a lot of our Nuu-chah-nulth young people who are questioning or who are queer, I wanted them to know that they have a place here. That they don’t need to go to the big cities. They can be queer in their home territories,” she said.
