Tyler McCreary, Joanne Connauton, Birdy Markert, and Ron Austin presented on the K'ëgit Totem Pole at the Canadian Association of Geographers' Annual Meeting in Victoria, BC on June 1, 2026. This academic meeting gathers geographers and allied researchers from around the globe to discuss cutting edge issues and ongoing research.

The on the Witsuwit'en delegation's trip to Paris, France, discussed the project: its history and current stage, and fielded questions from the audience of academics and the general public.

In addition, the team screened the documentary film at the Royal British Columbia Museum sharing the story of the pole with museum staff and the public.

Special thanks to the sponsors on the poster for helping to fund the trip.

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Joanne Connauton successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, The Këgit Totem Pole: Witsuwit’en Story, Surrealist Contradictions and the Colonial Archive, in the Department of Geography at Florida State University.

We all congratulate Dr. Connauton on her exceptional work on the Old Poles project, and wish her continued success as her career progresses!

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91��ɫ U professor champions Indigenous cultural preservation by Deirdre Kelly.

"In a powerful intersection of art, history and Indigenous rights, Ann Marie Murnaghan, a professor in the Children, Childhood and Youth Program at 91��ɫ, is leading a groundbreaking research project focused on the K’ëgit totem pole.

This monumental piece of Indigenous art stands approximately 16 metres tall (about 52 feet) and is crafted from western red cedar. It represents the rich cultural heritage of the Witsuwit’en Nation in northern British Columbia and features intricate carvings that depict the story of K’ëgit, a supernatural figure of profound cultural and spiritual significance to the Witsuwit’en people."

/yfile/2025/01/08/york-u-professor-champions-indigenous-cultural-preservation/

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How a Wet’suwet’en Totem Pole Wound Up in Paris: Inside a generational journey of reconnection and education by Amanda Follett Hosgood.

"The totem pole stands in the entryway of France’s Musée du Quai Branly, tall and elegant but somewhat out of place — the contours of its weathered exterior in stark contrast with its clinical surroundings. 

Known as the K’ëgit pole, it stands 15 metres tall, rooted in the museum’s lower level and extending into the main-floor foyer. Strangers entering the museum breeze past, often without a glance. Its grace is paired with a loneliness. For nearly a century, the pole has been separated from its people. 

But the pole’s family recently came to visit."

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Wet'suwet'en delegation travels to Paris to reconnect with cultural treasure: The K’ëgit totem pole, which once stood in a Wet'suwet'en village, is now housed at the Quai Branly Museum by CBC News with files from CBC's Shaurya Kshatri and The Early Edition.

"A First Nation in B.C. recently reconnected with a powerful piece of their cultural history — nearly a century after it left their land. 

A delegation from the Wet'suwet'en Nation travelled to Paris last month to see the K'ëgit totem pole, now housed at the Quai Branly Museum. 

Standing about 16 metres tall, the pole depicts the story of K'ëgit, a supernatural figure central to the House of Many Eyes clan of the Wet'suwet'en, says hereditary chief Ron Mitchell, who was part of the delegation."

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Wet’suwet’en reconnect with totem pole in France, by Logan Flint.

"A Wet’suwet’en delegation recently traveled to France to reconnect with the K’ëgit totem pole sold for $100 in 1938.

This trip was a collaboration between the Likhsilyu Clan, Kyah Wiget Education Society, Florida State University, 91��ɫ, the Bulkley Valley Museum, and School District 54.

“This trip was funded by the Wetzin’kwa Community Forests Corporation and the British Columbia Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research,” said 91��ɫ Assistant Professor Ann Marie Murnaghan."

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Joanne Connauton spoke with Stephen Quinn on the Early Edition, Vancouver. The title of the interview was Wet'suwet'en nation reunited with a historic totem pole transported to France

You can find the segment linked on this page

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"A delegation of Witsuwit’en hereditary chiefs, elders, artists and youth from C’inegh Lhay Yikh (House of Many Eyes) of the Likhsilyu Clan (Small Frog) travelled to Paris, France in the third week of October, 2024 in search of their history and its connection to the Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac Museum.

In 1938, Kurt Seligmann, a surrealist artist interested in Northwest Coast Indigenous art, came to British Columbia to purchase a totem pole. After corresponding with anthropologist Marius Barbeau, who had studied the region’s totem poles, he decided on the K’ëgit pole. It was considered one of the oldest and most skilfully carved, left standing in the Witsuwit’en village of Tsë Cakh (Hagwilget). The pole, which retells the story of K’ëgit a supernatural creature, was raised by former C’inegh Lhay Yikh house chief C’idimsggin’ïs in the early to mid-1800s.

With the Department of Indian Affairs and the local Indian Agent’s support, Likhsilyu House Chief Hagwilnekhlh Arthur Michell and relatives Gwinu Little Dennis, Simah Sam Jimmy Michell, Guts’ilik Joe Nass and Ggaclh Phillip Austin were pressured to sell the pole for a mere $100. After being repaired due to damage done during its removal, the K’ëgit pole was sent by train to Vancouver and then Paris, France by boat. In early 1939, after extensive restoration, it was displayed in front of the Musée de l’homme (Museum of Man) in Paris until 2001, when it was transferred to the Quai Branly Museum, where it underwent a second restoration process.

Hagwilnekhlh Ron Mitchell, C’inegh Lhay Yikh’s current House Chief, has mixed emotions about visiting the museum: “It’s quite emotional when I think about our people. I will be happy to see the totem pole and a part of our house and chief’s history, but sad at the same time. I am curious about the carver. I’m sure my grand-mother ’Ilhdesinon Josephine Michell (Arthur Michell’s daughter) knew who the carver was. It is an original Witsuwit’en pole in terms of its style, not so Northwest Coast…and I really like that. I was disheartened when I heard that they took it apart to move it. They should never have done that without understanding what it means to our people. Back then, they were strict about ’anuc niwh’it’ën (our laws) and when a pole fell they didn’t move it.”

For another delegation member, SD54 District Principal of Indigenous Education ’Ilhdesinon Birdy Markert, the totem pole’s history is personal and profound: “It’s an emotional uncovering of past stories regarding our traditions that are difficult to pull apart, but also my great-grandfather Arthur Michell’s experience of the pole’s removal. Poles were never removed; they fell and returned to nature. Why does he seem to have been alone in dealing with this? Why were his wife and children not involved? It’s such a clash of cultures. He had already been jailed several times for fighting for his land; he must have felt helpless. I want young people to understand what our ancestors went through as they dealt with colonisation and how hard they fought to keep our culture and traditions alive. This trip is a powerful opportunity for exchange and reclamation.”

Master Carver Dzïggot Ron Austin has dreamt of seeing the K’ëgit pole for years: “It’s an amazing opportunity to see the pole that may have belonged to my grand-mother’s older brother, C’idimsggin’ïs. It means a lot as an artist to see what my ancestors created before me in person. K’ëgit had a long, hooked nose like sggïgit (eagle), which is where the name came from. I think it will be inspirational. It might inspire me in a different direction in my style.” Ts’akë ze’ West’es Sandra Martin Harris explains, “Our stories shared on ts’an (totem poles) are such an integral part of our crests, names, identity and connection to the yin tah in our Clans, House Groups and villages. We did not get to witness its life force, while it stood firmly on the land for all to witness. We didn’t get to artistically share the story of the supernatural being, K’ëgit, the way our ancestors did through the beautiful carvings on the K’ëgit pole. I am grateful to be able to visit our relative and to be together with Dinï ze’ and Ts’akë ze’ and youth on this painful rematriation journey.”

The delegation’s goal is to restore and revitalise the Witsuwit’en’s cultural connection to the K’ëgit pole and inspire ongoing cultural revitalisation efforts and healing for clans and community.

The visit to the Quai Branly Museum to see the K’ëgit totem pole is the result of collaboration between the Likhsilyu Clan, Kyah Wiget Education Society, Florida State University, 91��ɫ, the Bulkley Valley Museum and School District 54 (Bulkley Valley). Funding and
financial support has been provided by the Wetzin'kwa Community Forest Corporation, the British Columbia Network Environment for Indigenous Health Research, School District 54 (Bulkley Valley) and the Bulkley Valley Community Foundation.

For more information contact: Birdy Markert at birdy@sd54.bc.ca

Photo credit: J3882 Marius Barbeau, Museum of History

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Research

The research team has over a dozen-­year relationship doing research with Witsuwit’en elders and community members.

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