Continued from the Smithsonian database:
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The Kwanusila, or thunderbird, sits at the top. The entire pole is painted in colors of black, brown, red, yellow and white.
Dimensions:
Sculpture: approx. 40 x 15 x 4 ft.; Base: H. 1 ft. Diam. 18 ft.
Inscription:
Kwanusila, the thunderbird, is an authentic Kwagulth Indian Totem Pole, carved in Red Cedar by Tony Hunt of Fort Rupert, British Columbia. The crests carved upon the totem pole represent Kwanusila, the thunderbird, a whale with a man on its back, and a sea monster. Kwanusila is an exact replica of the original Kraft Lincoln Park Totem Pole, which was donated to the City of Chicago by James L. Kraft on June 20, 1929, and which stood on this spot until October 9, 1985. Kwanusi is dedicated to the school children of Chicago, and was presented to the City of Chicago by Kraft, Inc. on May 21, 1986. unsigned
Description from the original totem that was returned:
"Surrounded by an iron fence, the Lincoln Park Totem Pole, also known as Kwa-Ma-Rolas, rises forty feet into the air and adds a touch of whimsy to the surroundings. The founder of Kraft, Inc., James L. Kraft, gave the pole to the Chicago Park District in 1929, after obtaining it in 1926 during a collecting trip to Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Dedicated by Kraft to the schoolchildren of the city, the pole had been carved from a single log by Kwakiutl Indians at Alert Bay, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Several tribes of the forested regions along the Pacific Ocean were known to carve totem poles to celebrate births, deaths, and other auspicious occasions. The colorful Lincoln Park Pole has the image of a sea monster at its base, which supports an upside down baleen whale with a man riding the back of it. At the top, perched on the whale’s tail, is a member of the Thunderbird family known as a “kulos.”"
From wikipedia:
"It was discovered some years before the pole was moved, that a pole of this type did not exist in the types at the Provincial British Columbia Museum located in Victoria, B.C., Canada. Arrangements were made for a duplicate of the Chicago original to be made by the same Amerindian tribe that made the original. A request was made and approved by the Chicago Park District for the original totem pole which existed here to be presented back to British Columbia."
See this Gapers Block article for more interesting information on the pole's history: (
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