Modernization
Learn more about government’s intention to modernize the museum to protect our historic holdings and provide better access to our collections.
The original house post was raised at the Gusgimaxw? Village of Xwatis (Hwates) in Quatsino Sound around 1870 and was collected by Charles F. Newcombe in 1913. The post stood on the grounds of Government House before being transferred to Thunderbird Park in 1941. In 1954, the pole was copied by the master carver Mungo Martin, assisted by his son David Martin and Henry Hunt (who was married to Martin’s adopted daughter).
By the spring of 2019, the museum and First Nations communities agreed that the Quatsino house post replica (pole 20120) had reached the end of its lifespan. The house post was taken down on May 31, 2019. You can see photos and video of the ceremonies to mark the poles’ return to the earth here.
Chief David Mungo Knox, great-grandson of Mungo Martin, facilitated the next stage in the pole’s journey: travel to Quatsino, where members of the Quatsino First Nation will decide how to lay the pole to rest.