Artworks

RANDE COOK

Museum Volkenkunde Commission, 2012

Museum Volkenkunden, Leiden, Netherlands

This 30 foot totem pole was part of a major exhibition in the Netherlands. The Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden commissioned Rande Cook to create the pole for an exhibition dedicated to Indigenous art from the Pacific Northwest. Cook was inspired by own his family origin story. A man sits at the centre of the pole above a killer whale, which comes from his mother's side. Below, a thunderbird with majestically spread wings at the top represents the first man who built a house after a great flood, according to one origin story. He prayed to the creator and was answered with a thunderbird.