gyảaGang (House Frontal Totem Pole)

Frontal pole from Old Masset house 34 (see plate 207, George MacDonald, 'Haida Monumental Art'). Frontal poles were erected at the front of a house, to display the crests of that family. They represent a family's status and affiliations.

Collected by C.F. Newcombe for the B.C. Provincial Museum in 1901. The pole was moved from old Masset to Beacon Hill Park, in Victoria, and displayed there until 1948 when it blew down. The fragments of the old pole were then shipped to UBC. The fragments remained in storage (previously in the old carving shed, now at MOA). The pieces were used by Haida carver Jim Hart, to carve a new pole that was raised beside the Haida House, on the Museum grounds, on October 2, 1982.

Fragments of a house frontal pole: four larger pieces, and some smaller fragments. The original house frontal pole had the following figures (top to bottom): raven perched on frog, bear holding cub, bear with cub in mouth, wasgo (sea-wolf) with sculpin. The upper portion currently at the museum, assigned to this pole, appears to be a later reproduction attempt; it is carved from a mass of long boards screwed together, rather than a single pole.