How does this artwork elucidate its History?
Its sculptor was Tony Hunt, the chief of the Kwagu'ł tribe in British Columbia, as a 1986 replacement for the totem pole that stood at the site since 1929. That pole was carved in 1893 for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago by George Hunt (Tlingit), an ethnologist from Alaska who assisted Franz Boas at the fair and served also as a linguist and interpreter. He was Tony Hunt's direct ancestor. 
The first Hunt totem pole was purchased after the fair by cheese baron James L. Kraft, the founder of Kraft Foods and later donated to the city of Chicago. It was placed in the park in 1929. It suffered from poor maintenance, weathering and vandalism over the years, and was sent to the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in 1985 for study and conservation.
totem pole cheese Museum of Anthropology Tlingit University of British Columbia World's Columbian Exposition baron Kraft Foods Tony Hunt George Hunt Chicago Kwagu'ł James L. Kraft British Columbia