House frontal pole Haida
British Columbia, Canada, about 1850, red cedar wood.
This 11 metre pole was originally set at the front of Goose or Bear house in the village of Hayang, on Masset Inlet. It was purchased from Chief Wiah of Massett in 1903. At that time the village of Kayang had already been anandoned after the local community was devastated by epidemics of introduced diseases.
From top to bottom the pole features crests of a chief holding a talking stick, a sea-grizzly (sea monster), a shaman holding two rattles made of puffin beaks, a large whale and a sea-grizzly between the tail fins of a killer whale. Riding on the sea-grizzly's head is a small human figure.
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