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Our institution is committed to the development of new modes of collaboration, engagement, and partnership with Indigenous peoples for the care and stewardship of past and future heritage collections.

Terms of use
The Bill Reid Centre's digital image archive is the digital version of a research collection first assembled by Dr. George MacDonald and his wife Joanne MacDonald over their long careers in Canadian museology, archaeology, and anthropology. The archive represents the MacDonalds' deep respect for the cultures of the Northwest Coast, their connections to numerous communities along the coast, as well as their relationships with museums, archives, friends and colleagues. These images are made available here for research and educational purposes. Other uses may require permission; users are responsible for contacting copyright holders to obtain such permission.

George and Joanne MacDonald Northwest Coast Image Archive

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: H'Kusam Village; Plank houses and frames on beach

: Village at the Mouth of the Nass River; A view of the church and houses at Gingolx.

: Yan Panorama; Looking north from the Killer Whale House at the south end of the village.

: Hummingbird Memorial; A group of people posing by a tall memorial for the Flicker House with an eagle at the top, followed by nine potlatch cylinders, and a hummingbird, one of his major crests, at the base.

: Killer Whale House; The frame of the Killer Whale House with frontal pole still attached. Through the frame you can see a couple of memorial poles that are associated with the house, and attached to the corner posts are carved raven figures.

: Masset Village; Looking north from the Star House of Chief Anetlas. The house on the left is the Monster House with all of its associated poles.

: Monster House; View of Chief Wiah’s Monster House from its boardwalk that stretched from the house to the beach. The memorial pole on the left is virtually identical to to the interior pole of the house.

: Monuments at Xaina Village; Monuments lined up in front of the houses at Xaina.

: Totem Poles and Monuments; Monuments lining the beach at Xaina.

: Haina Houses; Houses and totem poles at Xaina.

: Haina Village; Group of men standing in front of a plank house. The entry pole to the house is being buttressed by a long pole.

: House and Slope; Image showing the steep slope behind the village of Haina. An entry pole and plank house are in the foreground.

: House Row; Houses and poles along the beach.

: Sculpin Mortuary; Mortuary plaque representing a sculpin.

: Masset Village; View of Masset village from the South looking North.

: Grizzly Bear House Interior Posts; Interior posts of the Grizzly Bear House. Newcombe recorded in 1906 that these were the posts taken by Jacobsen to Berlin. He states that they supported the large round roof beams and faced the door. Here they are shown just before their removal from Masset, arranged for display with a Chilkat blanket, painted hat, and two daggers that probably belonged to Xa’na. The formal display represented in the photograph is typical of that put on at a chief’s funeral. The Chilkat blanket is draped over a box that may be the coffin box of Xa’na.

: Edenshaw House; Women seated at the entrance to the house of Chief Albert Edward Edenshaw. The frontal pole did not particularly reflect the family crests, which were frog, raven, beaver, and eagle. On the left is the one memorial pole of the house.

: Masset Village; Looking Northwest through the village.

: Monster House Interior; Interior of Chief Wiah's Monster House as it were when the house was still occupied.

: Kayang Panorama; Looking north along the house row at Kayang village.

: Mountain House; Shown here is the Mountain House and its frontal pole. The crest figures from the top are: a grizzly bear, a raven and a supernatural snag that is eating a frog. There is a ceremonial entrance through the stomach of the snag.

: Xaina House Row; View of the village of Xaina with the mortuary of the House Passers-by Always Looked Up At in the foreground. This mortuary featured a raven with four potlatch cylinders and a frontal plaque with a carved sculpin. The tall memorial has a raven at the top with a blanket in its beak.

: Nahwitti Fishing Camp; Nahwitti fishing camp on Balaclava Island, Strait of Georgia, August 15, 1885.

: Houses and Canoes; Vertically planked houses and canoes on the beach.

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George and Joanne MacDonald Northwest Coast Image Archive

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