Kwakiutl Totem Pole
The Kwakiutl Totem Pole differs from those traditionally erected on reservations in that a non-indigenous group commissioned it for the 1967 World Exhibition. Standing as the lone remnant of the Canadian Indian Pavilion, it bears witness to the survival and ancestral presence of the First Nations in this country. This artwork follows the aesthetic code established on the coast of the Pacific Northwest. The six mythological figures displayed represent the emblems of several Kwakwaka’wakw tribes without drawing upon a specific lineage, thus illustrating that all of these tribes act as one.
Municipal public art collection
Title
Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl) Totem Pole
Artist
Henry Hunt and his son Tony
Materials
British Columbia red cedar (thuya)
Production
Created using a single tree trunk from Thunderbird Park in Victoria, British Columbia
Installed
Inaugurated in February 1967
Acquisition
Transfer from the Canadian Corporation for the 1967 World Exhibition
Location
Parc Jean-Drapeau, île Notre-Dame
Ville-Marie borough
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