KWAKWAKA'WAKW
Alert Bay / northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Possibly George Hunt (1854–1933) or a member of the Hunt family
Monumental Totem Pole with Eagle, Killer Whale, and Human Figure
Probably early 20th century, c. 1900–1930
Carved and polychromed cedar
121 1/4 × 89 × 39 in.
Nearly ten feet high, this monumental pole depicts a great bird with separately constructed outstretched wings above a vertically arranged Killer Whale and a strongly carved human or ancestral face. Its bold carving, broad painted forms, projecting appendages, and restrained palette belong firmly within the monumental Kwakwaka'wakw carving tradition of northern Vancouver Island.
The pole is believed to originate in the Alert Bay region. A specialist familiar with the group from which it was acquired has suggested that it may be the work of a member of the Hunt family, possibly George Hunt himself. George Hunt was not only one of the most important Indigenous ethnographers of the Northwest Coast but also participated directly in Kwakwaka'wakw artistic production; a large house-front pole he carved for Edward Curtis's 1914 film survives in the collection of the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.
