Ki-et-sa-kun (Coal Tyee)

Harbourfront Walkway at Mark Bate Memorial Tree Plaza

This bronze bust was created to honour Ki-et-sa-kun (Coal Tyee). In 1851, while Ki-et-sa-kun was repairing his rifle in Victoria he mentioned the coal in Winthuysen Inlet to a group of settlers. In 1852, James Douglas sent Joseph Mackay (the clerk for the Hudson Bay Company) to Winthuysen Inlet to investigate the reports of coal deposits. He confirmed the value of the coal deposits and one year later the Company decided to close the mine at Fort Rupert (where the coal deposits were found to be inferior) and instead transfer its mining operations to Winthuysen Inlet. In honour of Ki-et-sa-kun's knowledge, he was given the name Coal Tyee by settlers, meaning Great Coal Chief.

The exact date of the creation of the bust is unknown, but a bronze copy was displayed in Nanaimo Tourist Bureau and Museum as early as 1970. It was later donated to Nanaimo Centennial Museum around 1975.

Dianne Birch, the daughter of the late artist, successfully lobbied the city for funds to create bronze copies of Kennedy’s busts of Ki-et-sa-kun (Coal Tyee) and Mayor Mark Bate. The two sculptures were placed in Mark Bate Memorial Tree Plaza just off the Harbourfront Walkway. Kennedy’s two bronze sculptures were unveiled in their location on June 29, 2002.

Photo by Sean Fenzl Photographer, 2020

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