Oregon Ash around Port Alberni
The status Oregon Ash in British Columbia is a matter of some debate among botanists. It is the rarest tree on Vancouver Island. But the debate is whether it is introduced or natural to BC. Some botanists think it’s presence on Vancouver Island is from seeds disseminated from planted ornamentals. However one recent authority says that “the pollen record indicates that it has been a native species fornine and half millennia, though it has never been abundant”. To read more about its status, follow this link: http://www.ou.edu/cas/botany-micro/ben/ben321.html
It can be found in poorly drained rich bottomland, near the mouth of the Somass River in Port Alberni and in scattered spots in the Duncan and Victoria areas.
For more information about the natural History of Vancouver Island contact Rainbird Excursions.
That’s a really interesting question, Doron. In response, I can say that unless you are steeped in the culture, any efforts you make to create a Totem Pole will be imitations of the real thing. Each totem pole relates a history of a specific family, or specific events within a tribe. So unless you belong to a tribe, you will be producing imitations. Also families have “rights” to depict certain images, rights either earned or given to them by a chief.
All that being said, I suggest you contact people like Cecil Dawson who can be contacted through this website http://www.reflectingspirit.ca/artists/cecil-dawson/artwork , or Gordon Dick who has his own gallery and website, http://www.gordondick.ca. They are both native carvers who live in the Alberni Valley. Good Luck.