Totem Pole - 16.1/438 A

Totem Pole - 16.1/438 A

Indigenous peoples
British Columbia
Culture

It is totem pole from the Nuxalk Nation of indigenous people, in British Columbia. It is made of carved red cedar wood and an unspecified paint. Its dimensions are 128cm in length, 188cm in width and 356cm in height. The totem itself has two faces carved in the wood, stacked on top of the other. The lower face has a beak and where the mouth is supposed to be is hollow. The object was acquired in 1909 by Harlan I. Smith, who was an archeologist who specialised in indigenous people in the British Columbia area.
This item relates to indigenous people and their culture. The item could be used as a comparison between different groups of indigenous people’s totem poles.

Nuxalk (Bella Coola), North side of the River (Bella Cooler River)

American Museum of Natural History, Division of Anthropology, North American Ethnographic Collection

https://anthro.amnh.org/anthropology/databases/common/image_dup.cfm?catno=16%2E1%2F%20%20438%20A

Object acquired - 1909 - Donated by Harlam I Smith, archeologist in the British Columbia area.

Melvin Kwan

American Museum of Natural History
16.1/438 A

N/A

Material Object - wooden totem pole

20th century British Columbia