Preserving the Tradition of T'lina Making

Each spring, families of the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation journey to a sacred place along the coast of British Columbia known as Dzawadi, or Knight Inlet, to follow the age-old tradition of rendering what is called t’lina from the oil of the tiny eulachon fish. The eulachon is one of 12 species belonging to the smelt family. It is a small, silvery fish, 15 to 20 centimetres long, and sometimes called candlefish.

T’lina is a food staple, a condiment, a highly prized medicine, and holds great importance in potlatches as a symbol of cultural wealth for Native people all along the West Coast and into the Interior of British Columbia. In Kwakwaka’wakw society, the highest honor a chief can perform is to give away, or potlatch the t’lina. T’lina was widely traded throughout the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years.

In this exhibit, you will see the process of rendering the eulachon oil. You will be introduced to three young boys who made their own t’lina in the spring of 2002. It is very important that the tradition of making t’lina is passed down to the young people so that this practice is never lost.