How did the G'psgolox Totem Pole end up at the Museum of Ethnography, and why is the original now decaying in a forest?
The G'psgolox Totem Pole is a nine-meter-high pole made of giant cedar, crafted in 1872 by the Haisla people in Kitamaat (British Columbia, Canada). It was created to commemorate a time when the Haisla were severely affected by a smallpox outbreak. The European conquest of the Americas exposed many Indigenous peoples to new diseases, leading to epidemics and the breakdown or depletion of cultural and social systems.
The totem pole was erected in the village of Misk’usa at the mouth of the Kitlope Valley after being carved at the request of Chief G'psgolox from the Eagle Clan following an encounter with the benevolent spirit Tsooda. Tsooda, wearing his characteristic hat, is depicted at the top of the pole. In the middle is Asoalget, a mythical bear, and at the base is the grizzly bear "who lives underwater."
In 1927, the pole was cut down and donated to Sweden by the Swedish consul Olof Hanson. It was transported to Stockholm by ship via Gothenburg and briefly displayed outside the old Museum of Ethnography on Wallingatan. However, the museum's premises were too small, and the facilities were in poor condition, so the pole was stored in a warehouse for half a century.
It wasn't until 1980 that the pole was erected again in the newly built Museum of Ethnography at Gärdet, whose central hall was designed to accommodate the magnificent totem pole.
However, questions arose—was there proof that the pole had been purchased, or was it perhaps stolen?
In 1991, Louisa Smith and Gerald Amos, representatives of the Haisla people, accompanied by a representative from Greenpeace, visited the Museum of Ethnography to demand the return of the totem pole. At the same time, large forest areas in the Kitlope Valley in British Columbia were under threat of deforestation. The totem pole, originally grown in the valley, was seen as an important symbol in the Indigenous people's fight against deforestation.
A campaign was launched to return the pole, and in 1994, the Swedish government decided to return the totem pole to Canada at the request of the Haisla people. The return was a symbolic event in the Haisla's efforts to reclaim their culture and inspire interest among their youth in their heritage.
In the spring of 2006, the upcoming return of the totem pole was celebrated at the Museum of Ethnography with the public and a delegation from the Haisla people. On-site, the Haisla carved a new totem pole replica, which was ceremonially erected outside the museum. Another replica was made and erected at the same time in its original location in Misk’usa.
On July 1, 2006, Chief G'psgolox's nine-meter-high totem pole finally returned to the Haisla homeland in Kitamaat, Canada. The pole was welcomed back with two days of celebrations featuring songs, dances, festivities, and speeches.
Although it was returned with the hope that it would be preserved for the future, Chief G'psgolox's descendants decided after a few years that the totem pole should return to Mother Earth by being allowed to decay in the forest where it originated. This is the first known example of a totem pole being returned to Indigenous peoples in the Pacific Northwest of North America.
The new totem pole now stands outside the Museum of Ethnography, reminding all passersby of the history of the G'psgolox Totem Pole.
