Grizzly Bear Pts’aan (Totem Pole)
Description
House frontal pole, bear figures
Date
Undated
Materials
Cedar, pigment, metal
Dimensions
146 × 38 1/2 × 15 1/2 in. (12.16 × 3.21 × 1.29 Ft)
Gitxaała Narrative
It has been 126 years since this pts’aan (totem pole or house post) was last in Laxyuubm Gitxaała (Gitxaała territory). It was cut down, saved, sold, abused, given away, and displayed. Finally, it has returned home in Gitxaała Nation’s first repatriation.
Pts’aan carry history and power. They mark territory and tell the stories of the houses and clans that belong to them. The pts'aan is 12 feet tall (3.7m) and displays the Midiigm Ts’m’aks (Grizzly Bear of the Sea) crest at the base and the Bear Mother crest on top. These crests on the pts’aan belong to the Gitnagun’aks house of the Gisbutwada (Blackfish Clan).
Provenance
Taken by Absolom Freeman from Kitkatla Village ca. 1896-1897
Crests indicate pole belonged to the Gitnagun’aks house of the Gitxaała Gisbutwada clan
Repatriation Status
Home
Links
Gitxaała Virtual Museum Exhibition
Article in Coastal First Nations
Museum and Original Catalog Number
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology
17-15-10/87055
Picture of the Grizzly Bear Pts’aan taken while it was at the Harvard Peabody Museum.
In the image of the pole taken at the Peabody Museum, the pts’aan still had its feet. When it was returned, the pole had no feet on the base (see 3D visualization). The museum returned the broken pieces of feet along with the pole.
