Vancouver's Stanley Park totem pole moving after decades
One of Stanley Park’s most iconic and recognizable totem poles is being moved after nearly four decades.
According to the Vancouver Park Board, the Kakaso’las totem pole at Brockton Point will be relocated to the Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC next month.
The move is being made because it is part of a loan agreement dating back to 1985 between MOA and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.
“[The Kakaso’las totem pole] stands six metres tall and features prominent figures including the Thunderbird with a whale on its chest, followed by a Sea-Bear holding a killer whale, a man holding a frog, Bak’was (the Wild Man of the Woods), Dzunuk’wa (Giant of the Woods), and a Raven at the base,” a description from the park board reads.
poemnist/Shutterstock
The pole was carved by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Ellen Neel in 1955. The Vancouver Park Board said that the artist’s family decided that based on an assessment of the pole, it should be returned to the museum so it can be preserved and continue to tell the history of Neel and her legacy.
Information Bulletin: Kakaso’las totem pole in Stanley Park to be relocated to Museum of Anthropology at UBC: https://t.co/ODOQDZHNz3 pic.twitter.com/yl3o0cjx8l
— Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation (@ParkBoard) August 14, 2024
The park board said it is coordinating with Neel’s family and the MOA.
“The Neel family, including Ellen Neel’s granddaughter, Lou-ann Neel, is supportive of,
and advocated for, this return so that the pole can begin the next chapter of its life at MOA. The relocation from Brockton Point to MOA is scheduled for September 4, 2024.”
The Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations are also being kept informed through the Stanley Park Intergovernmental Working Group of the pole’s relocation, the park board said.
Stanley Park Totem Poles (Shutterstock)
The Kakaso’las totem pole is one of five poles commissioned by the Woodward’s Department Store “and initially installed at their Westmount Mall location in Edmonton, Alberta,” the park board said in a statement.
“The pole was carved at Neel’s Ferguson Point Studio in Stanley Park, with assistance from her sons Robert, Dave, and John (Ted Jr.) Neel,” the statement reads. “Woodward’s donated the pole to MOA in 1984, where it was restored by Robert Neel before being installed at Brockton Point through the long-term loan agreement in 1985.”