Virtual tour showing the Outside Exhibit of the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver. Here there are two Halda Houses, a number of totem poles and a reflection pool which, on a good day, gives great reflections of the mountains behind North Vancouver. Panorama taken in June 2012.

Museum of Anthropology - Outside Exhibit - Vancouver visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Museum of Anthropology - Outside Exhibit' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from British Columbia.

The Museum of Anthropology is one of the top tourist attractions in Vancouver. Standing on University of Vancouver grounds, the museum contains over 38,000 ethnographic objects, and 535,000 archaeological objects from cultures worldwide. There is a particular emphasis on works by First Nations peoples of Canada, especially the Pacific Northwest Coast First Nations, as indicated by the Raven and the First Men yellow cedar sculpture by Bill Reid which is one of the museum highlights.

At the back of the museum is the Outdoor Exhibit, shown here. Many of the poles found here were carved by Bill Reid and Douglas Cranmer between 1959-62. In this area are (descriptions of the totem poles run from top to bottom):

• Two Haida Houses - these were the centre of Haida social, political and economic life, made of western red cedar.
• Hiada House Frontal Pole - made of cedar, a copy of 19th century pole showing a Raven, Frog, Sea Bear with cub, Human, Bear with Frog and Grizzly Bear with Sculpin.
• Haida Mortuary Pole - showing an Eagle, Mother with child, Grizzly bear father with cub.
• Haida House Frontal Pole - carved in 1961-62 showing Watchmen, Shark or dogfish with Killerwhale, Eagle with Sculpin in claws and Frog in ears, Killerwhale with enclosed human.
• Haida Mutuary House Frontal Pole - carved in 1959 showing Watchmen, Raven/Human with Human/Bird face on tail, Bear with Raven between legs, Frog like creature, Bear with Frog in mouth Wolf between legs and Cub between ears. This is a 2/3 copy of an older Haida pole inside the museum.
• Double Haida Mortuary Pole - 1960-61 carving of the Dogfish attached to two poles
• Haida Memorial Pole - showing a Raven, Segmented chief's hat, Beaver with Bear Cub and Human face on tail.
• Yosef Wok Reflecting Pool - funded by Yosef Wok in 2012 and giving great reflections of the mountains behind North Vancouver on a clear day.

Museum of Anthropology - Other Highlights

• Raven and the First Men yellow cedar sculpture by Bill Reid.
• Great Hall - a massive space full of various totem poles, canoes, house posts and more.
• Musqueam Collection - artifacts from the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as works by current Musqueam artists.
• Textiles Collection - about 6,000 items, half of which come from Asia and includes Cantonese Opera costumes.
• African Collection - about 2,800 objects including Yoruba thorn carvings, Makonde figures from Tanzania, Asante gold weights, weapons and mortuary items from Egypt.
• Chinese Collection - about 1,500 items of ceramics, calligraphy and paintings.

Museum of Anthropology
6393 Northwest Marine Drive
Vancouver,
BC V6T 1Z2,
Canada
Phone: (604) 827-5932

Bus: WB NW Marine Dr NS West Mall (C20), WB NW Marine Dr FS Cecil Green Park (C19)