Centennial Pole
Centennial Pole
Centennial Pole
Centennial Pole
Centennial Pole
Centennial Pole - photo by Maxime Cyr-Morton
Odgen Street & Cypress Street
Hadden Park
North end of Cypress Street
The artwork has been removed from this location.
Gift
1958
wood
Totem pole
No longer in place
City of Vancouver
Province of British Columbia
Commemorative
Description of work

"Each of the ten figures is the crest of one of the ten Kwakwaka'wakw clans representing the mythical ancestry of the clan. From the top down:: chief wearing high crowned hat and robe; Beaver; Old Man; Thunderbird and Sea Otter holding seal; Raven head down; whale with face for blowhole; woman crouching on head of Sisiutl; Halibut with human in its body; Cedar Man with head and neck rings." (From Totem Poles, Hilary Stewart, 1990, Douglas & McIntyre)

Artist statement

"The original pole was commissioned by the province in 1958 and presented to Queen Elizabeth. The pole is 30.5m (100ft) high representing one foot for each year of the Province's existence at the time. The original log was a 600 year old red cedar from the Queen Charlotte Islands. At the First Cut Ceremony, Lt. Gov. Frank M. Ross made the first cut into the log. Mungo Martin worked with his nephew Henry Hunt and his son David Martin to complete the pole in seven months. This pole stands in Windsor Great Park in England. The Vancouver pole is an exact duplicate." - ibid, Stewart

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