Guardian of the Bay
14”x 17” pen & ink on paper 1999
( COMMISSION N.F.S )

This image is of an old Welcome Pole at the village of Karluquees on Turnour Island B.C.
This pole belonged to the Tlawit’sis Tribe and was put up by Chief John Speck in the 1920’s.
The pole served as a symbol of the Tlawit’sis peoples’ generosity and wealth. Welcome figures
are connected to feast and feasts are connected to feeding the body food and the spirit mythology.
Upon seeing a Welcome figure in a chief’s village, a visitor knew he would be taken care of and that
he was in friendly territory. The image was a commission for friends living in Victoria and was based on
a photograph taken in the early 1970’s. The author of the photograph returned there in the late 80’s to
 find that the Welcome Pole and house were nearly overgrown in Blackberries.


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