Totem-Pole Full Size Item Number: E233398-0 from the National Museum of Natural History

Notes

From card: "This is one of the two larger poles, acquired for the La. Purch. Expos. exhibit [a.k.a. St. Louis World's Fair of 1904] of the Smithsonian. It was purchased from Joe Hans who had it erected about 1885 as a memorial to his deceased uncle, whose name and totemic emblems he was assuming. It was put up on a site called: "nadogids" (the house to which people are always glad to go). The explanation of the carved figures is as follows, from bottom to top: 1. Beaver, was the original crest of Hans (tseng), 2. Whale (kun), 3. Sea Grizzly Bear (Chagan huaji), 3 Cormorant (kialo) with a face carved on its tail which is merely ornamental, 5. Two "totem-pole" men, with a ceremonial hat between them, on which stands: 6. Eagle (got) (at the top). The Eagle, Cormorant, and the whale are the crests which he took over from his uncle. Carved by natives from the giant cedar Thuja plicata."See "Monumental Art of Tanu", The Bill Reid Centre, Simon Fraser University https://www.sfu.ca/brc/virtual_village/haida/tanu/monumental-art-of-k-uuna.html . See entry on House 7b: Favourite House of Assembly, where it is noted that the second house on this site, Favourite House of Assembly, was erected sometime before 1885. Pole E233398 is described there as Frontal pole 7B, and the crests on the pole are identified in this way: 1. (top) separate carving of an eagle 2. two watchmen on either side of a small frog with large potlatch cylinders 3. cormorant 4. sea grizzly 5. killer whale 6. beaver with four potlatch cylinders