Totem 1

Thunderbird Park was established in 1941 when a display of totem poles from the Royal BC Museum's collection was set up at the corner of Belleville and Douglas streets in Victoria. In 1952, Anthropology Curator Wilson Duff initiated a pole restoration program and hired Kwakwaka'wakw master carver, Mungo Martin, as chief carver for Thunderbird Park. Thunderbird Park is named for the mythological creature found on many totem poles: the ones in the park came from the Gitxsan, Haida, Kwakwaka’wakw and other First Nations.