Raven pole moved to temporary home

The day began snowy, cold and damp, but by noon last Friday, the flurries subsided and the sun burned through the cloud cover, an undeniably propitious occurrence for the takedown – due to concerns of structural integrity – of Jasper’s 130-year-old Raven Pole.

Preparation work on the totem pole began in earnest on Monday that week, with Ray Magnan, project coordinator with Jasper National Park and Rick Lair, wood conservator with Parks Canada, removing the copper sheeting revealing the innards of the 40-foot-tall Haida carving.

Both Magnan and Lair said they were “honoured” to be working on a project of such tremendous historical and cultural import. The Fitzhugh had the opportunity to view the entire face and back from top to bottom with the assistance of Magnan. Venturing upwards in the cherry picker, Magnan detailed his and Lair’s work, emphasizing the time, effort and most importantly the care that has gone into preparing the pole for Friday’s removal.

To the back of the totem pole, Lair and Magnan affixed a steel double cross, which was designed by local engineer John Ogilvy. With the preparatory work complete, the crane’s hook was secured to the steel support structure in anticipation for the sawing to commence.

Axe man, or rather chainsaw man, Richard Parsloe has spent the past three decades honing his tree felling skills, but had never tested them on a totem pole before Friday. Although new to totem felling, Parsloe wasn’t nervous and he just focused “on the job that needed to be done,” he said. He made three surgical cuts through the Douglas Fir telephone pole that had been supporting the totem since the 1950s, freeing the pole from its base.

“As soon as I heard that saw fire up, that sexy sound of a Husky, I knew we were all done,” said Magnan after the job was complete. Once the pole was freed, the crane operators took over the operation. Canada Crane Services out of Nisku were contracted to do the heavy lifting. Weighing in at 8,800 lbs (without the steel support structure) the totem pole was one of the smaller, but most important jobs they’ve done.

The crew from Canada Crane has lifted and hauled $10 million electrical transformers, but not something as priceless as the totem pole, meaning “there’s no room for error,” they said. Although they had been apprised of the totem’s history, it wasn’t until they actually got to Jasper and saw the pole that they became awestruck and could appreciate the significance to the town, they said.

With the Raven’s beak pointed skywards for the first time in half a century, the pole was loaded on a flatbed truck, strapped down and transported through town to the Parks Canada compound in the industrial park across the tracks. When unloaded and placed off the ground, Lair and Magnan erected a tent-like shelter to protect the totem pole until a decision is reached regarding its fate. With work complete, Lair, Magnan, Ogilvy, Parsloe, Mike Dillon, and the crew from Canada Crane Services headed to the Whistle Stop for a cold one to celebrate a job well-done.