Image depicts two poles standing in an open area. The front pole features a human-like creature on visible portion. The back pole also includes a human figure at the bottom with an owl on top. The figures on the bottom may be crest figures (Leading In or Halfway Out) or a Man of the Wild. Read's note suggests that one of these may be a Pole of Hrkyadet at Kispiox.
Image depicts a short totem with a bear at the base, an uncarved portion, and a smaller animal at the top. The bear is noteworthy because of its realistic style.
Image depicts several wooden structures with totem poles erected in front. Read's diary suggests that this photo may have been taken in the Kispiox Village near Hazelton, BC. and the prominent pole in the foreground may be known as Half-Way Out.
Image depicts a row of totem poles standing along the side of a dirt road. Based on Read`s diary and the figures on these poles, this photo may have been taken in Kitwanga, and the pole on the far left may be the Dog Salmon Pole.
Image depicts a dirt road with several totem poles situated along the roadside. The poles are viewed from a distance, making it hard to identify any crests on the poles. Several wooden structures can be seen near the poles and mountains are visible in the distance.
Image depicts a close up showing the details of the lower figures on a totem pole, probably the Snag-of-the-Sand-Bar pole from the House of Chief Skogum Laxhe. The bottom figure is is the monster Hagwelawrh, who lives under the water and causes the Sand-Bar to raise with his back. See also image a034836 for another view of this pole.
Image depicts a totem pole that features a human figure at the base and three other human figures, aligned horizontally across the pole. Other wooden structures can be seen in the background. Read's note indicates that a possible explanation for this pole can be found in Barbeau, p. 149, which suggests that the three humans carved in this pole may be Hrpugweelan, a crest of Ksemgitgeegyaenih, a Larhsail chief.
Image depicts a totem pole located in a valley with mountains in the distance. The pole is probably from the Kitwanga or Kispiox villages in the Skeena Valley. This pole features a fish on top and a series of ravens interspersed with human-like characters below that. One section of the pole is not carved.
Image depicts three totem poles, standing in an open area. Read's note under this photo indicates that the pole on the left may by a Snag-of-the-Sand-Bar pole from the House of Chief Skogum Laxhe. The pole on the right may be Chief Laxhe`s Hat-of-Tsagyem-hanak Pole. See also item a034837 for a closeup of the Snag-of-the-Sand-Bar pole.
Fonds consists of scans of two albums of photographs and one enlarged photograph captured by Stanley Read during two separate vacations through interior British Columbia with his wife, Ruth. Also included in the fonds is a scan of a journal which Stanley Read used to document the daily events of one of these trips, during which Stanley and Ruth travelled through Gitksan territory/Skeena Country. The photographs capture Gitksan totem poles, people, and wilderness encountered on their travels.
Image depicts three young boys posed together with water and boats in the background. Notes indicate that this photograph may have been entered in a UBC staff photography competition in the early 1950s.
Image depicts a totem pole from Gitsegyukla (Skeena Crossing). Read`s notes call this the Pole of Mawlarhen. Depictions of frogs and an owl are visible. See also item a03426 for another view of this pole.
Image depicts several totem poles erected in an open field in front of several wooden structures, possibly houses. Read's notes indicate that these poles are the Wawsemlarhae poles at Kispiox Village in the Skeena Valley.
Read's note cards detail information about three groups of totem poles and contain text and page references to Marius Barbeau's book, Totem Poles of the Gitksan, Upper Skeena River, British Columbia (published by the Canada Department of Mines and the National Museum of Canada, 1929).
Read's handwritten journal (July 8 - August 5, 1948) of his trip from Vancouver to the Skeena River Valley and back, details the weather, road conditions, people he met, and fish caught along the way.
Image depicts two totem poles erected very close together. Read's notes indicate that these are the Poles of Ksrarom-Larhae, located in Gitsegyukl. "Snag-of-the-Sand-Bar pole. At the bottom the monster Hagwelaworh (?), a whale-like sea monster. "