gyảaGang (House Frontal Totem Pole)

Upper 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 1800. 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. Grizzly bear was a crest of the lineages of the 'Striped Town People' and 'Sand Town People' of the Raven Moiety, to which the male house owner may have belonged. The supernatural Snag was also a crest of the 'Striped Town People". Human arms of the bird may indicate ability to transform from animal to human.

The upper section of a frontal pole, crescent shaped in cross section, carved in shallow and deep relief. From top to bottom: eagle with a long beak turned down to reach midpoint of raised adjacent human forearm, four fingers folded over palm. Claw framed by ear of bear below. Hawk-like face against body.