Memorial Totem Pole

Item number A50035 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Chief Kwekwelis [Kwa Kwa Ga Lis] memorial pole. Carved crest figures from top to bottom: Huxwhukw (man-eating, supernatural bird); Gigame’ (chief) holding frog; Nan (grizzly bear) holding k’utala (salmon); Ma’x’inux (killer whale); T’sawi (beaver).

History Of Use

Chief Kwekwelis [Kwa Kwa Ga Lis] memorial pole. Free standing totem poles such as this were usually memorial or commemorative poles erected in honour of a person who had died, usually by the successor to his name. The beings represented on Kwakwaka'wakw totem poles are those beings from mythical times who became, or were encountered by, the ancestors of those being commemorated, whose family claimed the figures as crests. Crests could also be obtained as marriage gifts.

Cultural Context

status; memorial

Narrative

In 1949, Mungo Martin left his home community of Tsaxis (Fort Rupert) to work at UBC on a four-year project to restore old totem poles (including A50037, A50038), and to carve two new memorial poles with his family’s crest figures (A50035, A50040). The figures Martin chose for the poles represent crests to which he had ancestral rights. This pole was removed from the MOA outdoor grounds and placed in storage in Sept. 2005, due to condition problems. The beak had been removed to storage in 1998 due to instability from inner rot in the top of the pole. In 2012 the pole was installed in the MOA Great Hall, with the beak re-attached using an internal steel mount.

Item History

What

Name
Memorial Totem Pole
Identification Number
A50035
Type of Item
totem pole
Material
paint and red cedar wood
Manufacturing Technique
carved and painted
Overall
height 11.3 m, width 0.7 m

Where

Holding Institution
MOA: University of British Columbia
Made in
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Who

Culture
Kwakwaka'wakw
Creator
Mungo Martin (Maker)
Previous Owner
Mungo Martin
Received from
Mungo Martin (Seller), University Purchase (Funding source) and Eric Hamber (Funding source)

When

Creation Date
during 1951
Collection Date
during 1951
Ownership Date
before 1951
Acquisition Date
during 1951

Other

Condition
fair
Accession Number
2109/0001
This work is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 2.5 Canada License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by emailing [email protected].

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