Salish Totem Gateway – Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia

There are now three so-called "welcome" gateways installed in what is popularly known as Stanley Park's s totem pole area. They are the first physical presence of indigenous people of Metro Vancouver on the site. Previously, all eight of the totem poles at Brockton Point were from northern first nations such as the Haida and Nisga’a. The Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh who traditionally used Stanley Park never made totem poles. But they did make house posts and the three impressive arches take their form from what guests would have walked under when entering a traditional Coast Salish longhouse.

Susan Point, the Musqueam artist who designed the welcome gateways or portals, said she’s honored that her work was chosen to represent the Coast Salish people. "The Salish people are finally setting their footprint, their own artwork, on their own land," she said in an interview in the backyard of her home and workshop on Musqueam land in south Vancouver. Working on the gateways has been a family affair for Point. The carvers and painters include Point, her children Brent Sparrow, Kelly and Thom Cannell, as well as husband Jeff Cannell, son-in-law Leigh Rollins, and production manager Ron Denessen.