Jasper Raven Totem Pole
For 94 years, a magnificent Haida totem pole stood like a sentry facing Jasper’s railway station. It was carved sometime during the 1870s to 1880s in Masset on the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (later the Canadian National Railway in the 1920s) acquired the pole in 1915 and sent it to Jasper by train. The original carved pole was unpainted cedar.
While in Jasper, the pole was painted several times to make it more attractive to visitors. In 2008, an assessment of the pole revealed advanced decay rendering it a public safety hazard. In April 2009, the totem pole was taken down.
In September 2009, the Minister of the Environment announced that Parks Canada will be replacing the Jasper Totem Pole with a new carving from its original home in Masset, British Columbia. The Government of Canada and Parks Canada worked with the Haida to repatriate the historic Raven Totem Pole back to the Queen Charlotte Islands.