Photo Gallery

Canada - B.C. - Vancouver Island – Victoria - Thunderbird Park - Mungo Martin House

Mother and child - On Vancouver Island, detail of a totem pole erected in front of the house of Chief Mungo Martin, painter, sculptor and singer of the Kwakiutl Nation (1879-1962). Of great formal beauty, the totem carries the timeline of major family events (Thunderbird Park, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada). - 1985

Richard Hunt, master carver at Thunderbird Park, part of the British Columbia Provincial Museum in Victoria, paints a Gakhula mask. The Gakhula beings appear in the Klasila dance ceremonies that were performed in the winter. They mockingly interrupted the dance procession and were then escorted from the ceremonial house.

Thunderbird Park in Victoria BC was established in 1941 when a display of totem poles from the Provincial Museum's collection was erected at the corner of Belleville and Douglas Streets. - A Haida totem pole in Thunderbird Park.

In 1952, anthropology curator Wilson Duff initiated a programme to restore the poles and hired Kwakwaka'wakw master carver Mungo Martin as chief carver for Thunderbird Park. - Detail of a Haida totem pole in Thunderbird Park - Victoria BC - Canada

Over the years, the original poles were moved to an indoor storage facility and replaced with replicas carved by Mungo Martin and others who worked under his direction. - Totem pole in Thunderbird Park - Victoria BC - Canada