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Tilikum On The Move
by John West 2015
Tilikum emerging from the enlarged doorway through the back wall of the old Courthouse.(Photo courtesy of John West )
About fifty years ago the Maritime Museum of British Columbia took custody of the Tilikum - a converted cedar dugout canoe and one the most significant vessels in the rich nautical history of British Columbia. It had been stored under a rain cover in Thunderbird Park on the grounds of the Parliament Buildings for the previous thirty years. Originally restored by Victor Jacobsen, who was elected as a member of the Thermopylae Club in 1924, the ravages of time and weather were threatening its integrity. Since the Museum moved into the old Court house on Bastion Square it has been the centerpiece of the collection ever since.
To get it into the building a large wall was demolished, the vessel inserted, and the wall rebuilt essentially trapping the Tilikum inside. It was never properly displayed and interpreted in the old building and the move gives an opportunity to do the job more correctly in the future.
The origin of the First Nations canoe from which the Tilikum was fashioned is now shrouded in mystery and contradiction. No one can know, with any certainty, which of the most plausible versions is correct. We do know for sure that it is more than 125 years old and although restored again it is a fragile artifact of great importance and significance. When the Museum was forced to move to a new location the question was "How to deal with the Tilikum"?
Tilikum in the sun after 50 years on display. (Photo courtesy of John West )
Tilikum's restored figurehead replacing the one that rotted away at Canvey Island. (Photo courtesy of John West )
Tilikum looking as tiny and frail as she was in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. (Photo courtesy of John West )
Tilikum passing the site of her previous home on the grounds of the Provincial Legislature.(Photo courtesy of John West )
Along with the Trekka she will be housed and displayed at the cruise ship terminal at Ogden Point, Victoria BC.
Tilikum at Canvey Island on the English coast showing her without the original figurehead.(Photo source unknown. )
More detailed background can be found in The Nauticapedia article Tilikum: dugout canoe extraordinaire
Tilikum as she was originally displayed in the Museum.(Photo source unknown. )
Editor’s Note: John West is a Past President of the Maritime Museum of British Columbia and a lifelong enthusiast of floating heritage. Besides the Maritime Museum he has worked tirelessly for the Victoria Classic Boat Festival.
To quote from this article please cite:
West, John (2015) Tilikum On The Move. Nauticapedia.ca 2015. http://nauticapedia.ca/Articles/Tilikum_Move.php
Site News: April 17, 2024
The vessel database has been updated and is now holding 92,205 vessel histories (with 15,628 images and 13,173 records of ship wrecks and marine disasters). The mariner and naval biography database has also been updated and now contains 58,616 entries (with 4,013 images).
In 2023 the Nauticapedia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of it’s original inception in 1973 (initially it was on 3" x 5" file cards). It has developed, expanded, digitized and enlarged in those ensuing years to what it is now online. If it was printed out it would fill more than 300,000 pages!
My special thanks to our volunteer IT adviser, John Eyre, who (since 2021) has modernized, simplified and improved the update process for the databases into a semi–automated processes. His participation has been vital to keeping the Nauticapedia available to our netizens.
Also my special thanks to my volunteer content accuracy checker, John Spivey of Irvine CA USA, who has proofread thousands of Nauticapedia vessel histories and provided input to improve more than 11,000 entries. His attention to detail has been a huge unexpected bonus in improving and updating the vessel detail content.