Totem: The Return of the G’psgolox Pole

Director Gil Gardinal (Métis)
Year 2003
Run Time 70min
Genre Documentary

In 1929, the Haisla people of British Columbia returned from a fishing trip to find their tribe’s nine-metre mortuary pole — otherwise known as the G’psgolox — missing, severed at the base. The pole’s fate was a mystery for over 60 years until it surfaced in a Stockholm museum, where members of the Haisla Nation journeyed to in order to get it back in 1991.

Mixing interviews, location photography and awesome footage of Haisla carvers, this unique documentary takes an incredible story and weaves in important commentary on the issue of cultural appropriation and art history.

Director

Gil Gardinal (Métis)

Writer

Gil Gardinal (Métis)

Producers

Jerry Krepakevich, Graydon McCrea, Bonnie Thompson

Genre

Documentary

Interests

BIPOC Stories, Environment, Global Experiences, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, Social Justice & Politics

Original Language

English