The totem pole located in Thunderbird Park at the Royal BC Museum was lowered on June 1 to undergo restoration work by its original artist, Kwakwaka’wakw artist Richard Hunt. During the restoration, four carved rays will be refixed onto the pole that were loosening and coming out. “They want me to sink them in about two more inches, just for safety. I said they’ve been here for 50 years, they haven’t fallen out yet,” Hunt told Victoria News. After completing the work, the pole will
be installed again in Thunderbird Park on June 8. Hunt first carved the pole when he was only 19 years old, working as an apprentice carver at the Royal BC Museum under the guidance of his artist father, Henry Hunt. “That’s the first pole I did on my own without my dad’s help,” he reminisced. He remembered how he used to work on the shed that was at Thunderbird Park with the help of his uncle, who was the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations chief. “I didn’t want
my dad’s help, so I told him, I’ve got to do this on my own. And he didn’t know that my uncle was telling me what to do…So the figures are what he said should be on this pole.” The totem pole that is being restored was completed in 1970 and stands at the centre of the park. Hunt said that most of the other poles at the park need restoration work too, because some of them have been up there for almost 100 years.
“The things like the beaks and the dorsal fins that are inside the wood are starting to, not rot, but shrink. So it gets loose. So they’re probably going to want those things fixed up.” He also said that the figure at the bottom of the pole has only four fingers on his left hand because he wanted to portray his friend, who came to watch him working on the totem. “When he was playing with his friends, they were trying to see how close
you could get to your finger with an axe. And somebody got too close and chopped it off. So he said, you should immortalize me and put me there,” he said, revealing why the totem pole figure only has four fingers.
Richard Hunt, Kwakwaka’wakw, totem pole, Royal BC Museum, Thunderbird Park, restoration, June 1, June 8, Henry Hunt
So they lowered it like for maintenance? I just don’t get why it needed “safety” when it’s been there forever… seems like a weird thing to mess with.
I saw a headline about a totem pole “lowered” and thought they were gonna destroy it or something. Glad it’s restoration I guess but 4 fingers? That’s a wild detail…
Wait when they say four fingers do they mean like only four were left after an axe?? Because that friend story sounds kinda made up? Also how does shrinking wood make beaks come loose? Seems like more than just restoration, more like it’s falling apart.
Totem pole going back June 8, cool cool. But I’m confused—if it’s restored by the original artist Richard Hunt, how does that relate to it being 1970 and his apprentice days at 19? Like… same guy? I dunno, I’m probably missing something. Either way hope they don’t rush it because those museum parks always cut corners.