SGang Gwaay XV
At SGang Gwaay last November, this is the same pole as my previous post. It represents a grizzly bear holding a human.
I don’t know the story behind the imagery, but one of the watchmen told me that this mortuary pole was moved from another village when the group moved in with others at SGang Gwaay.
A chief was buried in the top of this pole and there would have been a panel with a carved crest forming a T across the front of the burial chamber at the top.
These are mortuary poles along the front of the UNESCO World Heritage Site on an island on the south-west side of Gwaii Haanas
If you don’t know where SGang Gwaay is, check out this map (here) and if you use the “street view” yellow person icon you can take a virtual tour along the trail through the village.
Click the SGang Gwaay tag at the bottom of this post (or just click here) to see many more images taken during many visits while working in Gwaii Haanas.
burnt embers 