Totem Pole - Totem Poles of Note

Totem Poles of Note

The title of "The World's Tallest Totem Pole" is or has at one time been claimed by several towns along the coast:

• Alert Bay, British Columbia — 173 ft (53 m), Kwakwaka'wakw
• McKinleyville, California — 160 ft (48.77 m), carved from a single redwood tree by Ernest Pierson and John Nelson
• Kalama, Washington — 140 ft (42.6 m), carved by Chief Lelooska
• Kake, Alaska — 137.5 ft (41.9 m), Tlingit
• Victoria, British Columbia (Beacon Hill Park) — 127.5 ft (38.862 m), Kwakwaka'wakw, carved by Mungo Martin with Henry Hunt and David Martin
• Tacoma, Washington (Fireman's Park) — 105 ft (32 m), carved by Alaskan Indians
• Vancouver, British Columbia (Maritime Museum) — 100 ft (30.5 m), Kwakwaka'wakw, carved by Mungo Martin with Henry Hunt and David Martin

There are disputes over which is genuinely the tallest, depending on constraints such as construction from a single log or the affiliation of the carver. Competition for making the tallest pole is still prevalent, although it is becoming more difficult to procure trees of such heights.

The thickest totem pole ever carved to date is in Duncan, British Columbia, carved by Richard Hunt in 1988, and measures over 6 ft (1.8 m) in diameter. It is carved in the Kwakwaka'wakw style, and represents Cedar Man transforming into his human form.

Standing a total of 173 feet (53 m) tall, the world's tallest totem pole is composed of two pieces of 168 and 5 feet (51 and 1.5 m). This one is in Alert Bay, British Columbia.