Model Totem Pole

Item number 3360/1 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

Item Records

This page shows all the information we have about this item. Both the institution that physically holds this item, and RRN members have contributed the knowledge on this page. You’re looking at the item record provided by the holding institution. If you scroll further down the page, you’ll see the information from RRN members, and can share your own knowledge too.

The RRN processes the information it receives from each institution to make it more readable and easier to search. If you’re doing in-depth research on this item, be sure to take a look at the Data Source tab to see the information exactly as it was provided by the institution.

These records are easy to share because each has a unique web address. You can copy and paste the location from your browser’s address bar into an email, word document, or chat message to share this item with others.

Data
Data Source

This information was automatically generated from data provided by MOA: University of British Columbia. It has been standardized to aid in finding and grouping information within the RRN. Accuracy and meaning should be verified from the Data Source tab.

Description

Model pole fully carved on the front and sides, and hollowed in a V-shape on the back. Likely carved of alder, with a separate base of painted fir. Figures represented from bottom to top include: a bear holding a killer-whale in its mouth; a human with its hands over the bear's eyebrows; a bear holding a downward-facing raven in its mouth; a salmon in the raven's mouth; a killer-whale in split view; an eagle. The pole is highlighted with some elements painted green-blue, black, red and white. Other areas are unpainted. The base is painted black and nailed on.

History Of Use

Attributed to a school of artists including Luke Watson (primary carver), working in collaboration with George Smith and/or Thomas Moody. The carving is characteristic of the work of several Skidegate Haida artists of the first half of the 20th century, influenced by the style of John Cross.

Narrative

The pole is said to have been given to D.M. MacKay (the donor's father) by someone from the W.H. Collison family. MacKay was Commissioner of Indian Affairs for BC in the 1940s. There is a photo of the pole, as part of the W.H. Collison collection, in the Northern BC Archives (2009.7.1.196).