The Teka'mt pendant was inspired by the stories of heroism of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth people, that I had listened to during a guided tour of the Museum of Anthropology nestled within the campus of the University of British Columbia In Vancouver, BC. The story goes that when Captain James Cook encountered the tribal community of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth people, they had guided the Captain's ship to "come around" the ocean's inlet (now known as Nootka Sound) into the harbor. Nuu-Chah-Nulth literally meant "come around", which the Captain mistook to be the name of the tribe. Only recently the indigenous people of the west coast collectively adopted the name "Nuu-Chah-Nulth" meaning, 'from along the mountains'.
The harpoon was their whaling weapon of choice (image below). The Nuu-Chah-Nulth would set out to sea in canoes dug out of the trunk of the Cedar wood tree to hunt for whales. It still baffles me, wondering how they brought a kill, the size of a whale, back to the shore on a dug out canoe with 8 men on it. While I absolutely do not support whaling, we must acknowledge the history & culture of our indigenous people. The numerous stories fascinated me enough to design this piece of jewelry in their honor. To little surprise, this piece of jewelry has been widely loved by my friends and has been styled on numerous outfits by both men and women in the Navio community.