Well now, let me tell ya ’bout that there totem pole, the one they got up in that Beacon Hill place. Big ol’ thing it is, taller than anythin’ I ever did see. They say it used to be the tallest in the whole wide world, can ya believe that?
Story Pole, that’s what they call it. Stands right there in Beacon Hill Park, lookin’ out at the water. Pretty sight, I reckon, though I don’t rightly know what all them carvins mean. Lots of birds and critters and faces, all stacked up on top of each other. Folks say it tells a story, but it’s a story I ain’t never heard.
- They put it up there a long time ago, back in 1956, so they tell me.
- A fella named Mungo Martin, he was the one who made it, along with his son and some other fellas.
- Chief Mungo, that’s what they called him, he was a Kwakiutl Indian, from up north somewhere. Knew his way around wood, that’s for sure.
Now, this pole, it ain’t just some ol’ stick they stuck in the ground. It’s made outta cedar, that red cedar they got out west. Good strong wood, lasts a long time, they say. And it’s tall, real tall. Thirty-eight point somethin’ meters, or a hundred and twenty-eight feet in them old measurements. That’s taller than a whole lotta houses stacked on top of each other, I tell ya.
Folks come from all over to see this pole. Take pictures of it, stand around and gawk. I reckon it’s somethin’ special, alright. Reminds ya of the old days, when things were different. When people lived closer to the land, and told stories with pictures instead of words.
I heard tell there’s other poles, even taller ones, up in some place called Alert Bay, and another one way down in California. But this one here in Beacon Hill, it’s the one I know. It’s the one I seen with my own two eyes.
They say them totem poles, they’re monuments, like. Ways to remember the folks who come before, and the things they did. Like a big ol’ family tree, carved outta wood. Each critter and face, it means somethin’, though I ain’t sure what. Maybe it’s ’bout a family, or a big event, or maybe just some old stories passed down from generation to generation.
Anyway, that pole, it’s been standin’ there in Beacon Hill Park for a good long time now. Seen a lotta changes, I reckon. Seen the seasons come and go, seen the city grow up around it. But it’s still standin’ tall, lookin’ out at the water. A reminder of the past, and a pretty sight to see, even if ya don’t know what it all means.
So next time you’re up that way, go on and take a look at that totem pole. Stand there for a minute and think about all the stories it’s got to tell. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll hear a whisper of the old days, carried on the wind.
And if you want to know more, they got folks you can ask. Tourism Victoria, somethin’ like that. They got all the fancy words and the history and all that. Me? I just know what I see, and what I hear. And that pole, it’s somethin’ special, that’s for sure.
Tags:Beacon Hill Park, Totem Pole, Story Pole, Victoria, Mungo Martin, Kwakiutl, First Nations, Pacific Northwest, Red Cedar, History
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