Yep, that's me standing next to the what was once the world's tallest totem pole at Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, British Columbia. Carved by Mungo Martin, David Martin, and Henry Hunt and dedicated in 1954, it is one impressive piece of engineering and cool native American artwork and stands 127' 7" tall.
There still seems to be quite a bit of controversy with the record totem poles though. Currently there is a taller pole in Alert, Alaska but it was built in sections (controversy?) but the true big daddy of all totem poles built in 1992 in Victoria which reached 185 feet (it was taken down in 2000 & sectioned off). There are also taller poles than the one I'm standing next to in Kalama, Washington (140 ', but it wasn't built by native Americans- more controversy) and another pole in Kake, Alaska at 132'.
Me? I just dug being back home in Canada and hanging with my family over my Spring Break from CCS.
5 comments:
Canada rocks. I miss it.
cool!
The totem pole in Kalama WAS built by a native american; I cant think of his name at the moment, but there is a museum his family runs in Ariel, WA (near Cougar, WA). Very nice museum. I believe, however that he may not have been of tribe that normally made totem poles. Kalama's is supposed to be the worlds tallest, carved from a single timber by a native American. Thanks for visiting it!
Terri, from the research I've done- the Kalama totem pole was built by Nathan Edward Galloway, a man born in Springfield, MO as a tribute to the American Indian. I haven't found anything that says he was of native American ancestry.
www.worldslargestthings.com/oklahoma/totemfacts.htm
Seeing this in person must have been SO AMAZING!! Wow!
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