Booth To Unveil Tallest Piece

's new monument is its tallest piece ever, a 2,300-pound, 37-foot tall totem pole, will be erected just outside the museum’s two-story sculpture court.

Open to the public, the unveiling ceremony for the Nishga Totem Pole is set for the North Lawn at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow. will follow, beginning at 12:15 p.m. in the ballroom, with the topic focusing on the importance of totem poles and the significance to the Nishga Totem Pole.

“We are thrilled to unveil the Nishga Totem Pole not only because of its remarkable size, but also because of its stark beauty and the story of its journey to Georgia” Executive Director Seth Hopkins said in a release. “This pole has a unique history, and it is only because there was never an installation ceremony where it was created that we are able to have it at the Booth. It is very rare for a totem pole to be moved. The Booth is grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Tom Cousins, who recently had the pole removed from the Wildwood Office Park in Marietta, for loaning us this monumental piece.”

The totem pole was commissioned in the early 1970's by a couple living in British Columbia who were adopted into the Nishga Gosnell Family. The pole was carved as a genealogical object—to tell the story of the family into which they had been adopted.

A “potlatch” tribal ceremony, which celebrates the raising of a totem pole, was set to be held at the completion of the carving. However, the couple who had commissioned the pole experienced a financial crisis and never held that potlatch ceremony.  This made it possible for the pole to be included in a museum exhibition of Native American art that traveled the country, and eventually be purchased by the Cousins.