Film Still, "Filming In The Land of The Head Hunters"

Film Still, "Filming In The Land of The Head Hunters"

House Post

History of Creation - Photo film still from "In the Land of the Head Hunters" showing the Thunderbird House Posts in the background. The Thunderbird House Posts were likely commissioned by Chief Tsa-wee-nok of Kingcome Inlet in the early 1900s for use inside a Kwakwaka’wakw big house, and later moved to Alert Bay. Before being moved to Alert Bay, they were rented by Edward Curtis for use in the film "In the Land of the Headhunters". Interior house posts were both a physical and spiritual support for Kwakwaka’wakw plank houses, and as such can only be truly understood by their context within the house and community. According to Ronald Hawker, they “embodied the spiritual encounters at the heart of the founding of the numaym” and that “their forms, names, and meanings – were all recounted, explained, and legitimised through the distribution of property when the house was opened”. (Ronald William Hawker, Yakuglas' legacy: the art and times of Charlie James)

Photographer - Unknown

Wikimedia Commons

Date of Creation - 1914

This still from the film "In The Land of the Head Hunters" shows the two Thunderbird House Posts in the background.

JPG
Photograph

Still Image

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Filming_In_The_Land_of_The_Head_Hunters_2.jpg

Location of Creation - Deer Island, British Columbia, Canada

Location of Creation - Fort Rupert, British Columbia, Canada

Associated Location - 'Yalis (Alert Bay), British Columbia, Canada

Nation and Culture of Origin - 'Namgis First Nation; Kwakwaka'wakw

Nation and Culture of Origin - Dzawada̱ʼenux̱w First Nation; Kwakwaka'wakw

Film Still