-Permanent Exhibit-
In 1907, Smith Siwid, Chief of the Tlowitsis, commissioned a pole from the celebrated Kwakwaka'wakw carver Charlie James (Yakuglas); Mungo Martin, later famous in his own right, may have assisted as an apprentice. Its seven crest figures—supernatural and ancestral beings—affirm the lineage and authority of Chief Smith Siwid and his family. Family history holds that he dedicated the pole at a p̓əsa, or potlatch, a ceremonial feast at which hosts distribute gifts to guests who witness and confirm claims of status and descent.
The pole was raised in the Tlowitsis winter village of Kalagwees, on Turnour Island, British Columbia. In 1941 it vanished, and the Tlowitsis Nation reported the theft to Canadian police. Anthropologist Frank Hibben brought a pole across the border by describing it as Tlingit, and from the 1960s until 2017 it stood on the University of New Mexico campus with nothing to connect it to the community it came from.
That changed through years of conversation between the Maxwell Museum and the Tlowitsis Nation. At the Nation's request, the pole remains at UNM—restored, renamed for the Smith family, presented with a fuller history, and accompanied by the University's acknowledgment of the wrong done in taking it. In 2017 it was moved indoors to the Hibben Center and conserved.
The unfolding story is told below in greater depth through a series of blogs and essays on the pole's carving, its removal, the Tlowitsis Nation, and the collaboration that brought it into the museum's care. We invite you to read on.
The Smith Family Totem Pole – Blog post July 18, 2018
Ask the Maxwell Friday: Largest Object in the Collections? – News Post June 12, 2020
The Smith Family Totem Pole (Part 1 of 4) – By Dr. Lea McChesney and Lauren Fuka - Blog post August 3, 2020
The Smith Family Totem Pole (Part 2 of 4) – By Dr. Lea McChesney and Lauren Fuka - Blog post August 10, 2020
The Smith Family Totem Pole (Part 3 of 4) – By Dr. Lea McChesney and Lauren Fuka - Blog post August 17, 2020
The Smith Family Totem Pole (Part 4 of 4) – By Dr. Lea McChesney and Lauren Fuka - Blog post August 24, 2020
May 3, 2017 – Totem Pole Restoration
September 16, 2017 - The Smith Family Totem Pole Blessing & Celebration