Monday, October 12, 2015

Kwagulth Totem Pole, Belmont Harbor


Deardorff 5x7
Kodak Wide Field Ektar 190mm/F6.3
Ilford HP5+ 400
Rodinal 1:50, Rotary, 9min

Kwanusila the Thunderbird, is an authentic Kwagu'ł totem pole, carved in Red Cedar by Tony Hunt of Fort Rupert, British Columbia. The crests carved upon the totem pole represent Kwanusila the Thunderbird, a whale with a man on its back, and a sea monster. Many people do not realize that totem poles were only regionally used by First Nations along the coastal areas of British Columbia. Kwanusila is an exact replica of the original Kraft Lincoln Park totem pole, which was donated to the City of Chicago by James L. Kraft on June 20, 1929, and which stood on the spot until October 9, 1985. It was discovered some years before the pole was moved, that a pole of this type did not exist in the types at the Provincial British Columbia Museum located in Victoria, B.C., Canada. Arrangements were made for a duplicate of the Chicago original to be made by the same Amerindian tribe that made the original. A request was made and approved by the Chicago Park District for the original totem pole which existed here to be presented back to British Columbia. Kwanusila is dedicated to the school children of Chicago, and was presented to the City of Chicago by Kraft, Inc. on May 21, 1986.

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