Mungo Martin House, Victoria, BC, Guia do visitante e o que fazer por perto

Mungo Martin House is a Kwakwaka'wakw big house standing in Thunderbird Park in Victoria, British Columbia, beside the Royal BC Museum. It was built in the early 1950s under the direction of Mungo Martin, a hereditary chief and master carver, and it remains one of the most meaningful places in the city to learn about Indigenous art and culture on the Northwest Coast.

The story behind it

Mungo Martin came from Fort Rupert on northern Vancouver Island and was one of the great carvers of his generation. In the early 1950s he was invited to Victoria to work in Thunderbird Park, where he helped carve new poles and restore older ones. The big house was built there as part of that work, in the traditional form of a large timber-plank house.

The house is known by the name Wawadit'la. It is more than a display piece. It was made to be used for carving and for ceremony, and its meaning comes from the people and the family traditions behind it. The surrounding park and the poles that stand in it are part of the same story.

What to look for

• Look at the overall shape of the house, a broad, low timber building that follows the big house tradition of the Kwakwaka'wakw.
• Notice the totem poles in Thunderbird Park around it, and compare the carving styles, figures and painted details from one pole to the next.
• Stand back and see how the house sits among the park's trees and lawns, with the Royal BC Museum rising close behind it.
• Walk to the edge of the park and look across to the older wooden buildings nearby, which show how different the city's layers of history are.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 15 to 30 minutes for the house and the park. Add more time if you also visit the museum next door.
• The park is easy to see from the outside at any time of day, and morning or late afternoon light is gentler for photographs.
• Access to the inside of the house is not always available, so check current opening hours and access with the Royal BC Museum before you plan around it.
• The Inner Harbour, Helmcken House and Beacon Hill Park are all a short walk away, so the house fits easily into a longer stroll through the area.

See it on a quest

You can reach the house on foot as one stop of Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in James Bay, Victoria, a mystery-themed walk through the James Bay area. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and sets a puzzle based on what is in front of you, so you look more closely at the house and its surroundings than you would on a quick photo stop. There is no guide and no fixed start time. One ticket covers the whole group, so it works well for families and friends travelling together.