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Totem Poles, Massitt, F.C. Island, B.C.
Vignette. Close front view of totem poles, several beyond
Property House
Property House with its frontal pole. The pole on the left with the horizontal bear on top is a mortuary pole, and the pole on the right is a memorial pole. Note the copper attached to the memorial pole above the head of the standing bear.
House Child
A standing bear memorial pole carved in more realistic style than on previous poles at Masset. Here the pole is shown after the top portion of the pole was cut off, just above the head of the bear. Standing next to the pole is Benjamin Bennett (son of Luke Bennett who raised this pole) - the last pole in Masset.
Property House
First Edenshaw bear mortuary pole with marble memorial to A.E. Edenshaw on right as seen during the McKenna McBride Commission visit (Commissioners in background).
Property House
Property House with frontal pole and bear mortuary pole.
Dr. Kude's House
Dr. Kude's house was the oldest house standing at Masset. The crest at the base detailing a beaver with a gnawed stick and tail bent up with a human face on it, and a large standing bear with cubs in its ears shown eating a person probably represents the Bear Hunter story.
Frontal Pole
This frontal pole belonged to an unnamed house at the base of Idjao Hill. Newcombe brought the frontal pole to Victoria, BC in 1901 where it stood in Beacon Hill Park until it was eventually blown over. The remaining pieces were sent to the Museum of Anthropology at the Univeristy of British Columbia. The pole has since been re-carved by Jim Hart.
Things Roasted On a Fire's House
The frontal pole shown standing in the Fox Warren Estate in England. It was erected here in 1884. The pole was returned to the National Museum of Canada in 1977. To protect it from the weather it had been coated with a thick layer of tar. Once cleaned and restored it promised to be in very good condition.
Double Mortuary
Double eagle leg mortuary that is approximately behind the Monster House.
Grizzly Bear House Interior Posts
Interior posts of the Grizzly Bear House. Newcombe recorded in 1906 that these were the posts taken by Johan Adrian Jacobsen, 1853-1947 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…
Monster House Memorial Pole
This memorial was erected in honour of Wiah's first wife, who was from Tian. This photograph details the base of the pole showing the three small figures whose wisps of hair represent puffs of clouds, and at the base the cumulous cloud, often called "Cloud Woman," which originally had a large recurved beak.This pole remained standing until about 1902. Charles Edenshaw made a model of it for the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Shaman Grave
The figure on the right with two heads is wearing a crown of grizzly bear claws. The figure on the left has a head that is doubly wide. Both figures are holding human figures, one upside-down and the other upright. This depicts the shaman's status of being between worlds.The platform, which would have held the shaman's body, is shown in a state of decay between the two figures.
Monster House Interior
The interior of the Monster House showing the house pit, and Chief Wiah's sleeping compartment.
Monster House Interior
Interior of Chief Wiah's Monster House as it were when the house was still occupied.
Monster House Model
Masset Model of the Monster House made by Gwayatilth.