gyảaGang (House Frontal Totem Pole)

Base section of a house-front pole that was originally said to be 12.8 m in height.

Gangxid KiiGawa clan pole, from SGaang Gwaay Llnagaay. Stood near the centre of the village, facing the beach, along a small bay on the east side of SGang Gwaay (Anthony) Island. The original pole would have been ceremonially raised in the mid 1800s. The pole fronted a large house named TlldaGaaw Naay, or Mountain House, which belonged to the chief and lineage of Those Born in the Southern Part of the Islands, of the Eagle Moiety of the Kunghit Haida. At some point before collection, the upper sections fell to the ground. The pieces at MOA (A50015 a-b & A50018) were collected during a joint salvage expedition by the University of British Columbia and the British Columbia Provincial Museum in 1957. In 1959, Bill Reid, assisted by Doug Cranmer, carved a new version of the complete pole scaled down by one third. The pole stands outside MOA, in front of the small Haida mortuary-style house. The following people assisted with the 1957 expedition: Smyly, John; Atkins, Bernard; Reid, Bill; Duncan, Kelly; Jones, Roy; Jones, Clarence; Jones, Frank.

The carvings on house-front poles depict crests belonging to the owners of the house. The specific stories relating to each figure are known by those who hold the right to share this knowledge and preserve it for future generations.

The base section of a frontal pole, crescent-shaped in cross section and carved in shallow and deep relief. From the top down: a large seated bear with a small wolf between, and in, its ears. A downward facing frog is emerging from the bear’s mouth. In between its arms and legs is a downward facing wolf.