Stanley's grandfather, Mungo Martin is credited with saving and preserving Kwakiutl arts and culture by secretly maintaining potlatch ceremonies during the Canadian potlatch ban which outlawed these social events and the native arts associated with them. The ban lasted from 1885 to 1951. The first legal potlatch after the law was repealed in 1951 was overseen by Martin in Victoria. During the ban Martin carved two totem poles for the Canadian Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. These were a sensation and contained a subtle message protesting the ban: at the top of the pole, two thunderbirds spread their wings standing on the heads of giant grizzly bears. These are all symbols of strength and are representatives of his family crest. At the bottom of the pole was the emblem of Canada, two beavers. In 1949, the University of British Columbia hired Martin to replicate the poles. While resident carver he built on site his own big house and collected and preserved 400 songs and oral histories. He is credited with the rebirth of an artistic heritage once pronounced dead.
