Chief Skedans Mortuary Totem Pole in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC, Canada
The Chief Skedans Mortuary totem pole is a uniquely significant installation within Stanley Park.
It stands out as the collection's only mortuary totem pole—a distinct structural style where a chief's remains were traditionally placed within a custom cavity at the top of the column. This incredibly stunning piece was carved by the legendary Haida master artist Bill Reid alongside his assistant Werner True.
Plaque Transcription
CHIEF SKEDANS MORTUARY POLE
AN OLDER VERSION OF THIS POLE WAS RAISED IN THE Haida village of Skidegate about 1870. It honours the Raven Chief of Skedans and depicts the chief's hereditary crests. The two tiny figures in the bear's ears are the chief's daughter and son-in-law who erected the pole and gave a potlatch for the chief's memorial. The rectangle board at the top of the original pole covered a cavity that held the chief's remains. Haida artist Bill Reid with assistant Werner True, carved this new pole in 1964. Don Yeomans recarved the top moon face in 1998.
Photo caption: Skidegate Village, Haida Gwaii in 1878. Chief Skedans pole at left.
Crest Figures Display Hierarchy
From top to bottom, this historic mortuary pole features a stack of deeply meaningful Haida family crest parameters:
- The Moon: A major chief's crest anchoring the top display.
- Mountain Goat: Positioned below the moon.
- Grizzly Bear: Featuring small human figures nestled inside the ear structures.
- Whale: Anchoring the baseline foundation of the red cedar column.
Photo Gallery
Where is the Chief Skedans Mortuary Totem Pole?
The Chief Skedans Mortuary Totem Pole is open to the public alongside the other master ancestral columns within the main First Nations Totem Poles meadow exhibition fields at Brockton Point in Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC, Canada.