Stanley Park's tattered totem poles
Broadcast Date: April 6, 1985
The totem poles in Vancouver's Stanley Park could well be the best known in the world, attracting countless tourists each year. But decades of wind, rain, and even graffiti have taken their toll on the totems. By 1985, many of these aboriginal structures are damaged and rotting. In this report from The National, we learn more about their history and find out what it's going to take to restore the park's totem pole exhibit to its former glory.Stanley Park's tattered totem poles
• Some of original totems at Stanley Park were created as early as the 1880s.• Vancouver's Park Board began installing totem poles in Stanley Park in the early 1920s, with the intention of building a replica of an "Indian village." The board purchased the totems from local natives in conjunction with Vancouver's Art, Historical and Scientific Society (a precursor to the Vancouver Museum). Over the years they continued to add more totems to the park, purchasing a number of them to coincide with the city's Golden Jubilee in 1936.
• In 1986, the year after this clip aired, the City of Vancouver began to send many of the original Stanley Park totem poles to various museums in an effort to preserve them. To replace them, new totem poles were either commissioned or loaned to the park between 1986 and 1992.
Other prominent roadside attractions in British Columbia include:
• Prospector and Stubborn Mule in 3 Valley Gap
• World's Largest X Country Skis in 100 Mile House
• World's Largest Totem Pole in Alert Bay
• World's Largest Hockey Stick and Puck in Duncan
• Junkers W34 Float Plane in Fort St. James
• Dolphin Fountain in Kelowna
• World's Largest Bathtub in Nanaimo
• World's Largest Tin Soldier in New Westminster
• Mr. PG in Prince George
• Marine Captain in Prince Rupert
• Figurehead - S.S. Empress of Japan (replica) in Vancouver
• Killer Whale in Vancouver
• Watering Can in Victoria
Stanley Park's tattered totem poles
Medium: Television
Program: The National
Broadcast Date: April 6, 1985
Guest(s): Allan Bennett, Bill Reid
Host: George McLean
Reporter: Georges Tremel
Duration: 2:48
Last updated:
Aug. 18, 2009
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Stanley Park's tattered totem poles.
The CBC Digital Archives Website.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Last updated: Aug. 18, 2009.
[Page consulted on Feb. 13, 2012.]