Thunderbird Park

In downtown Victoria right next to the Royal British Columbia Museum, is Thunderbird Park with it's two longhouses and impressive collection of totem poles. Each cultural group of native people had their own style of carving poles, and many are represented in the Park. The original poles deteriorated over the years, and renowned native carvers were commissioned to replace them. Some of the originals are housed inside the Museum.

Mungo Martin built the traditional Kwakiutl house complete with carved house posts inside. In front of it stands a Kwakiutl-style pole also carved by Mungo Martin.

The bottom figure on the pole depicts Dzunukwa holding her son, half human and half Dzunukwa, who grows up to become founder of the Nimpkish people. Coco isn't too sure he wants to get any closer to Dzunukwa, the Wild Woman of the Woods, that mythical figure native parents would scare their children with to prevent them from going into the forest on their own.

The Haida poles are huge, with many figures, rising high into the sky....

Holly finds them rather hard to photograph. Mostly we just get photos of the bottom figures...

At the base of this Gitksan-style pole carved by Mungo Martin, Henry and Tony Hunt,
​is the ancestress Will-a-daugh holding her child who sucks its fingers.

"Let's pretend to be a totem pole"

Another pole in front of the Museum

*Note - Totem poles are exclusive to native groups along the Pacific Northwest, and came into prominence after contact with Europeans, who brought metal carving tools in trade for the much prized otter skins.  To raise a totem pole require a Potlach - a huge feast where each individual who attended was required to receive a gift, in exchange for being a witness to all the ceremonies that would take place during the event. It could takes years to prepare.

​Each cultural group had their own style, while some didn't carve poles at all. Many poles tell stories, or depict creatures representative of the person they were intended to honour. Some are memorial poles, and the Haida even carved funerary poles that held the remains of the person they were created to honour. Early missionaries mistakenly thought they were idols of worship, and had many taken down and destroyed. Even with government attempts to suppress native expression by banning the traditional Potlach for many years, the totem pole has survived, and Native art has found a resurgence.