The Prince Rupert Port Authority says it won’t be doing anything with a totem pole on Lelu Island.
Members of the Gitwilgyoots tribe and their allies raised the pole in 2017 to celebrate the cancellation of the Pacific Northwest LNG project and to assert their stewardship over the island.
Concern over the future of the pole came up on social media over the weekend, but in a statement, the port says the totem pole is the exclusive responsibility of the hereditary leadership.
The port says its recent moratorium on development of Flora, Agnew, and Horsey Banks doesn’t rule out development on Lelu Island, but it says the future of any structures on the island will be made with the elected leaders of Metakatla and Lax Kw’alaams and the hereditary leaders of the Gitwilgyoots.
Occupation of Lelu island by Gitwilgyoots members against the proposed LNG terminal, began in 2015 and saw the construction of two buildings.
The port authority has maintained that the island is federal land under its administration and considers any activities on Lelu as trespass.
It says there are currently no proposed projects under investigation for Lelu Island.
