Kwakwaka’wakw Pole, 1954 
Carvers: Mungo Martin, David Martin
and Henry Hunt
Based on: Kwakwaka’wakw House Post

This is a version of a house post that was raised in the
Gusgimaxw village of Xwatis in Quatsino Sound around 1870. It supported the massive longitudinal beams of the house structure. Charles F. Newcombe purchased the post at Xwatis in 1913 and it stood on the grounds of Government House in Victoria for many years before being transferred to Thunderbird Park in 1941. Mungo Martin made this new version in 1954, assisted by his son, David Martin, and his son-in-law, Henry Hunt. The original post remains in the collection of the Royal BC Museum (RBCM 1854).
RBCM 20120.
All Colour Images - RBCM, 2006.

Huxwhukw, the Cannibal Bird, is a crest obtained by the owner through marriage to a Kingcome Inlet woman. The wings and beak were missing when Newcombe purchased the original house post. New ones had been added by the time it was erected in Thunderbird Park and these also appear in the new version. Newcombe identified the bird as Huxwhukw but now there is a disc in the bird’s beak; this motif is usually associated with Raven, who stole the sun.