Welcome to Duncan - City of Totems - Duncan, BC - Welcome Signs on Waymarking.com

In the early 20th century, non-native communities started erecting totem poles in prominent locations to encourage visitors. Coast Salish master carver Simon Charlie’s Salish Bear pole was carved as a part of the BC Centennial initiative in 1966 called the “Route of the Totems,” created to celebrate Vancouver Island joining mainland British Columbia in 1866.
In 1985, Mayor Douglas Barker initiated a totem pole project that would put Duncan on the map. Raising poles throughout the City would accomplish several things: it would celebrate the close ties between the City and the Quw’utsun’ people; it would further beautify the City; and, it would distinguish Duncan as a community that recognizes and appreciates the unique art form of the totem pole and all it represents. Mayor Barker’s enthusiasm for the “City of Totems” spread to the City’s Councillors, Cowichan Tribes Chief and Council, and the business community.
In 1986 Duncan was officially designated the City of Totems. The designs of the poles reflect peoples’ lives, businesses and families. The poles represent two cultures coming together. The collection has grown from those original poles commissioned in the 1980s.
In 2012, the City commissioned a new pole to celebrate the centennial of the City of Duncan, together with the new signage to complement its outdoor collection. The oral histories collected by Jane Mertz during this project have created access to the previously-untold stories of the artists and their families. The carvers’ cultural knowledge is now preserved and all of the information gathered during the project is housed in the Cowichan Valley Museum and Archives for future visitors and scholars.