In this 90-minute program, students will tour the poles that stand outside on the museum’s grounds overlooking the Salish Sea. An introduction to the life cycle of poles from tree cutting, carving and painting, to pole raising is presented through contemporary photographs. Students will study different tools, features and functions of Musqueam, Haida, Kwakwaka’wakw poles through guided observation and hands-on interaction with tools and materials. Students will become familiar with various styles and imagery carved on house, frontal, memorial and mortuary poles. A larger discussion of artistic traditions will present an opportunity for students to draw crests or figures to explain what their designs communicate about the First Nations cultures represented.

• Grades 3 – 5
• Duration: 90 min
• Times:
  Tuesday – Friday, 10 am, 12 pm
• PDF: Teachers’ Notes
• PDF: Background Info – First Nations of BC
• PDF: What You Need to Know to Book
• PDF: First Nations of BC Map