Totem poles are
monumental sculptureThe term monumental sculpture is often used in art history and criticism, but not always consistently. It combines two concepts, one of function, and one of size, and may include an element of a third more subjective concept. It is often used for all sculptures that are large...
s carved from large
treeA tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s, mostly Western Red Cedar, by cultures of the
indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest CoastThe Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those historical peoples. They are now situated within the Canadian Province of British Columbia and the U.S...
of
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The word
totem is derived from the Ojibwe word
odoodem, "his kinship group".
History
Since they are made of cedar, which decays eventually in the
rainforestRainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
environment of the Northwest Coast, few examples of poles carved before 1900 exist. Noteworthy examples include those at the
Royal British Columbia MuseumThe Royal British Columbia Museum is a natural history and human history museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1886. The "Royal" title was approved by Queen Elizabeth II and bestowed by HRH Prince Philip in 1987, to coincide with a Royal tour that year...
in Victoria, BC and the Museum of Anthropology at
UBCThe University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
in Vancouver, BC, dating as far back as 1880. And, while 18th-century accounts of European explorers along the coast indicate that poles existed prior to 1800, they were smaller and few in number.
The freestanding poles seen by the first European explorers were likely preceded by a long history of monumental carving, particularly of interior house posts. The scholar Eddie Malin has proposed that totem poles progressed from house posts, funerary containers, and memorial markers into symbols of
clanA clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
and family wealth and prestige. He argues that the Haida people of the
Queen Charlotte IslandsHaida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
originated carving of the poles, and that the practice spread outward to the
TsimshianThe Tsimshian are an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Tsimshian translates to Inside the Skeena River. Their communities are in British Columbia and Alaska, around Terrace and Prince Rupert and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island. There are approximately 10,000...
and Tlingit, and then down the coast to the tribes of
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and northern Washington. This is supported by the photographic history of the Northwest Coast and the deeper sophistication of Haida poles. The regional stylistic differences among poles can be attributed to application of existing regional artistic styles to a new medium. Early 20th-century theories, such as those of the anthropologist
Marius BarbeauCharles Marius Barbeau, , also known as C. Marius Barbeau, or more commonly simply Marius Barbeau, was a Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthropology...
, who considered the poles a post-contact phenomenon enabled by the introduction of metal tools, were treated with skepticism at the time and have been discredited in light of the above evidence. .
The disruptions following American and European trade and settlement first led to a flowering of totem pole carving and then to a decline in the Alaska Native cultures and their crafts. The widespread importation of iron and steel tools from Britain, the United States and China led to much more rapid and accurate production of carved wooden goods, including poles. Historians have not determined if iron tools were introduced by traders, or whether Alaska Natives produced iron tools from drift iron recovered from shipwrecks; the presence of trading vessels and exploration ships simplified the acquisition of iron tools, whose use greatly enhanced totem pole construction.
The
Maritime Fur TradeThe Maritime Fur Trade was a ship-based fur trade system that focused on acquiring furs of sea otters and other animals from the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast and natives of Alaska. The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese...
gave rise to a tremendous accumulation of wealth among the coastal peoples, and much of this wealth was spent and distributed in lavish
potlatchA potlatch is a gift-giving festival and primary economic system practiced by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and United States. This includes Heiltsuk Nation, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Makah, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Coast Salish cultures...
es frequently associated with the construction and erection of totem poles. Poles were commissioned by many wealthy leaders to represent their social status and the importance of their families and clans. By the 19th century, certain Christian missionaries reviled the totem pole as an object of heathen worship; they urged converts to cease production and destroy existing poles.
Due to United States and Canadian policies and practices of acculturation and assimilation, Alaska Natives sharply reduced their production of totem poles at the end of the 19th century . In the mid-20th century, a combination of cultural,
linguisticLinguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, and artistic revival, along with intense scholarly scrutiny and the continuing fascination and support of an educated and empathetic public, led to a renewal and extension of this moribund artistic tradition. Freshly carved totem poles are being erected up and down the coast. Related artistic production is pouring forth in many new and traditional media, ranging from tourist trinkets to masterful works in wood, stone,
blownGlassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble, or parison, with the aid of a blowpipe, or blow tube...
and etched glass, and many other traditional and non-traditional media.
Today a number of successful native artists carve totem poles on commission, usually taking the opportunity to educate apprentices in the demanding art of traditional carving and its concomitant
joineryJoinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining together pieces of wood, to create furniture, structures, toys, and other items. Some wood joints employ fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, while others use only wood elements. The characteristics of wooden joints - strength, flexibility,...
. Such modern poles are almost always executed in traditional styles, although some artists have felt free to include modern subject matter or use nontraditional styles in their execution. The commission for a modern pole ranges in the tens of thousands of dollars; the time spent carving after initial designs are completed usually lasts about a year, so the commission essentially functions as the artist's primary means of income during the period. Totem poles take about 6–12 months to complete.
Meaning and purpose
The meanings of the designs on totem poles are as varied as the cultures that make them. Totem poles may recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events. Some poles celebrate cultural beliefs, but others are mostly artistic presentations. Certain types of totem poles are part of mortuary structures, and incorporate grave boxes with carved supporting poles, or recessed backs for grave boxes. Poles illustrate stories that commemorate historic persons, represent shamanic powers, or provide objects of public ridicule.
"Some of the figures on the poles constitute symbolic reminders of quarrels, murders, debts, and other unpleasant occurrences about which the Native Americans prefer to remain silent... The most widely known tales, like those of the exploits of Raven and of Kats who married the bear woman, are familiar to almost every native of the area. Carvings which symbolize these tales are sufficiently conventionalized to be readily recognizable even by persons whose lineage did not recount them as their own legendary history." (Reed 2003).
House front poles were meant to show the success of the families.
Totem poles were never objects of worship. Very early European explorers thought they were worshipped, but later explorers such as
Jean-François de La PérouseJean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse was a French Navy officer and explorer whose expedition vanished in Oceania.-Early career:...
noted that totem poles were never treated reverently; they seemed only occasionally to generate allusions or illustrate stories, and were usually left to rot in place when people abandoned a village. The association with "idol worship" was an idea from local Christian missionaries of the nineteenth century, who considered their association with
ShamanismShamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
as an occult practice.
The vertical order of images is widely believed to be a significant representation of importance. This idea is so pervasive that it has entered into common parlance with the phrase "low man on the totem pole." This phrase is indicative of the most common belief of ordering importance, that the higher figures on the pole are more important or prestigious. A counterargument frequently heard is that figures are arranged in a "reverse hierarchy" style, with the most important representations being on the bottom, and the least important being on top. There have never been any restrictions on vertical order; many poles have significant figures on the top, others on the bottom, and some in the middle. Other poles have no vertical arrangement at all, consisting of a lone figure atop an undecorated column.
Shame poles
Poles used for public ridicule are usually called "shame poles", and were created to shame individuals or groups for unpaid debts. They are often placed in prominent locations. Shame poles are rarely discussed today, and their meanings have been forgotten in many places. They formed an important subset of poles carved throughout the 19th century.
One famous shame pole is the Seward Pole in
SaxmanSaxman is a city on Revillagigedo Island in Ketchikan Gateway Borough in southeastern Alaska, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 431. The city of Ketchikan lies just to its northwest.-Geography:...
,
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
. It was apparently created to shame the former U.S. Secretary of State for not repaying a potlatch to the Tlingit people. The intent of the shame pole was indicated by the figure's nose and ears being painted red, to indicate his stinginess. It is a common misconception that the Lincoln pole, also located in Saxman, is a shame pole, but it was erected to commemorate the U.S Revenue Cutter
Lincoln in its role in helping two rival Tlingit clans establish peace.
Another example of the shame pole is the Three Frogs Pole in
WrangellWrangell is a city and borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2000 census the population was 2,308.Its Tlingit name is Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw . The Tlingit people residing in the Wrangell area, who were there centuries before Europeans, call themselves the Shtaxʼhéen Ḵwáan after the nearby Stikine...
, Alaska. This pole was erected by
Chief ShakesChief Shakes is a distinguished Tlingit leadership title passed down through generations.-Origin:The orphan Gush X’een lived at Ch’aal’in. He was a Teikweidí named Joonák’w. The leader of the Naanya.aayí, S.nóok, took a liking to the orphaned boy and raised him as a nephew...
to shame the Kiks.ádi
clanA clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
into repaying a debt incurred by three of their slaves, who impregnated some young women in Shakes's clan. When the Kiks.ádi leaders refused to pay support for the illegitimate children, Shakes had the pole commissioned to represent the three slaves as frogs, the frog being the primary crest of the Kiks.ádi clan. The debt was never repaid, and the pole still stands next to the Chief Shakes Tribal House in Wrangell. This pole's unique crossbar shape has become popularly associated with the town of Wrangell. Not understanding the meaning of the pole, European Americans used its crossbar shape as part of the title design of the
Wrangell Sentinel newspaper, which continues to use the design.
In 1942 the government commissioned a pole to commemorate Alexander Baranof, the Russian governor and Russian American Company manager, as a works project. Designed by George Benson, it stands in Totem Square, in downtown Sitka. The pole was carved by
CCCThe Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
workers in
WrangellWrangell is a city and borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2000 census the population was 2,308.Its Tlingit name is Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw . The Tlingit people residing in the Wrangell area, who were there centuries before Europeans, call themselves the Shtaxʼhéen Ḵwáan after the nearby Stikine...
in 1942, who competed with those of Sitka. They depicted Baranov as naked. Due to safety concerns, after a
Sitka Tribe of AlaskaThe Sitka Tribe of Alaska is the federally recognized tribal government for more than 4,000 Alaska Natives living in or near Sitka in the U.S. state of Alaska. The tribal government was created through the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. The Tlingit language name for the Sitka...
-sponsored removal ceremony, the pole was lowered on October 20, 2010 with funds from the Alaska Dept. of Health and Social Services. The
Sitka Sentinel reported that while standing, it was "said to be the most photographed totem [pole] in Alaska".
A shame pole was erected in
CordovaAs of the census of 2000, there were 2,454 people, 958 households, and 597 families residing in the city. The population density was 40.0 per square mile . There are 1,099 housing units at an average density of 17.9 per square mile...
, on March 24, 2007. It includes the inverted and distorted face of Exxon ex-CEO
Lee RaymondLee R. Raymond was the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of ExxonMobil from 1999 to 2005. He had previously been the CEO of Exxon since 1993. He joined the company in 1963 and has been president since 1987 and a director since 1984....
, representing the unpaid debt that courts determined
ExxonExxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
owes for having caused the
oil spillThe Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989, when the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker bound for Long Beach, California, struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled of crude oil. It is considered to be one of the most devastating human-caused...
in
ValdezValdez is a city in Valdez-Cordova Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 4,020. The city is one of the most important ports in Alaska. The port of Valdez was named in 1790 after the Spanish naval officer Antonio Valdés y...
.
Construction and maintenance
Erection of a totem pole is almost never done using modern methods, even for poles installed in modern settings on the outside of public and private buildings. Instead, the traditional ceremony and process of erection is still followed scrupulously by most artists, in that a great wooden scaffold is built, and hundreds of strong men haul the pole upright into its footing, while others steady the pole from side ropes and brace it with cross beams. Once the pole is completed, a
potlatchA potlatch is a gift-giving festival and primary economic system practiced by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and United States. This includes Heiltsuk Nation, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Makah, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Coast Salish cultures...
is typically held where the carver is formally paid and other traditional activities are conducted. The carver will usually, once the pole is freestanding, perform a celebratory and propitiatory dance next to the pole while wielding the tools used to carve it. Also, the base of the pole is burnt before erection to provide a sort of rot resistance.
Totem poles are typically not well maintained after their erection. Traditionally once the wood rots so badly that it begins to lean and pose a threat to passersby, the pole is either destroyed or pushed over and removed. Older poles typically fall over during the winter storms that batter the coast. A totem pole rarely lasts over 100 years. A collapsed pole may be replaced by a new one carved more or less the same as the original, with the same subject matter, but this requires a new payment and potlatch and is thus not always done. The beliefs behind the lack of maintenance vary among individuals, but generally it is believed that the deterioration of the pole is representative of natural processes of decay and death that occur with all living things, and attempts to prevent this are seen as somehow denying or ignoring the nature of the world.
This has not, however, prevented many people from occasionally renewing the paint on poles or performing further restorations, mostly because the expense of a new pole is beyond feasibility for the owner. Also, owners of poles who are not familiar with cultural traditions may see upkeep as a necessary investment for property, and ignore the philosophical implications.
Property
Each culture typically has complex rules and customs regarding designs represented on poles. The designs are generally considered the property of a particular clan or family group, and this ownership may not be transferred to the owner of a pole. As such, pictures, paintings, and other copies of the designs are often seen as an infringement of possessory rights of a certain family or cultural group. Many Native artists, Native organizations and Native governments note that the ownership of the artistic designs represented on a pole should be respected as private property to the same extent that the pole is property. They ask that public display and sale of pictures and other representations of totem pole designs should be cleared with both the owners of the pole and the cultural group or tribal government associated with the designs on the pole.
Totem poles in general are not the exclusive cultural property of a single culture, so the designs are not easily protected. The
appropriationCultural appropriation is the adoption of some specific elements of one culture by a different cultural group. It describes acculturation or assimilation, but can imply a negative view towards acculturation from a minority culture by a dominant culture. It can include the introduction of forms of...
by art and tourist trinket worlds of Northwest Coast American culture has resulted in production of cheap imitations of totem poles, executed with little or no knowledge of the complex stylistic conventions demanded by Northwest Coast art. These include imitation styles made by other First Nations and Native American peoples in the various parts of Canada and the American Southwest. This proliferation of "totem junk" has diluted the public interest and respect for the artistic skill and deep cultural knowledge required to produce a pole.
In the early 1990s, the
HaislaThe Haisla are an indigenous people living at Kitamaat in the North Coast region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. Their indigenous Haisla language is named after them...
First Nation of the Pacific Northwest began a lengthy struggle to repatriate a sacred totem from
Sweden's Museum of EthnographyThe Museum of Ethnography , in Stockholm, Sweden, is a Swedish science museum. It houses a collection of about 220,000 items relating to the ethnography, or cultural anthropology, of peoples from around the world, including from China, Korea, South and Southeast Asia, the Pacific region, the...
. Their successful efforts were documented in a
NFBThe National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
documentary by Gil Cardinal,
The Return of the G'psgolox Pole.
Totem poles of note
The title of "The World's Largest Totem Pole" is or has been claimed by several towns along the coast:
- Alert Bay, British Columbia
Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island, British Columbia, Canada. According to the 2006 census, 556 people live within the village.-Population:Slightly more than half of the village's 556 residents are First Nations people...
— 173 ft (56.4 m), Kwakwaka'wakw
- Kalama, Washington
Kalama is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. It is part of the 'Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area'. The population was 2,344 at the 2010 census.-History:...
— 140 ft (42.6 m), carved by Chief Lelooska
- Kake, Alaska
Kake is a town in Petersburg Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 710 at the 2000 census. The name comes from the Tlingit word or , which is derived from “dawn, daylight” and “mouth”, i.e. “mouth of dawn” or “opening of daylight”.-Geography:Kake is located at...
— 137.5 ft (41.9 m), Tlingit
- Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
(Fireman's Park) 173.5 ft (56.5 m), carved by Alaskan Indians
- Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
(Beacon Hill Park) — 127.5 ft (38.862 m), Kwakwaka'wakw, carved by Mungo Martin with Henry Hunt and David Martin
- Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
(Maritime Museum) — 100 ft (30.5 m), Kwakwaka'wakw, carved by Mungo Martin with Henry Hunt and David Martin
There are disputes over which is genuinely the tallest, depending on constraints such as construction from a single log or the affiliation of the carver. Competition for making the tallest pole is still prevalent, although it is becoming more difficult to procure trees of such heights.
The thickest totem pole ever carved to date is in
Duncan, British ColumbiaDuncan is a city on southern Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.-History:The community is named after William Chalmers Duncan . He arrived in Victoria in May 1862, then in August of that year he was one of the party of a hundred settlers which Governor Douglas took to Cowichan Bay...
, carved by Richard Hunt in 1988, and measures over 6 ft (1.8 m) in diameter. It is carved in the
Kwakwaka'wakwThe Kwakwaka'wakw are an Indigenous group of First Nations peoples, numbering about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland and islands.Kwakwaka'wakw translates as "Those who speak Kwak'wala", describing the collective nations within the area that...
style, and represents Cedar Man transforming into his human form.
Standing a total of 173 feet (52.7 m) tall, the world's tallest totem pole is composed of two pieces of 168 and 5 ft (51.2 and 1.5 ). This one is in Alert Bay, British Columbia.
Totem poles outside North America
Poles similar to totem poles are also found elsewhere in the world. Due to their similarities to totem poles, they are often described as being totem poles. Notable cultures with such example of having a totem pole-like objects are those by indigenous people of
JilinJilin , is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the northeastern part of the country. Jilin borders North Korea and Russia to the east, Heilongjiang to the north, Liaoning to the south, and Inner Mongolia to the west...
, northeast China; the Koreans, the
AinuThe , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...
, indigenous people of north Japan; and the Māori, indigenous people of New Zealand.
Mundha is a one-piece decorative wooden pillar carved by a
Madia GondMadia Gonds or Madia or Maria are one of the endogamous Gond tribes living in Chandrapur District and Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra State, and Bastar division of Chhattisgad State India. They have been granted the status of a Primitive Tribe by the Government of Maharashtra under its...
bridegroom in India after he is engaged. It is kept in front of the community dormitory (
ghotulA Ghotul is a spacious tribal hut surrounded by earthen or wooden walls. It is an integral part of Gond tribal life in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh and the neighboring areas in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh in India. It’s a place by youths and for youths, an independent and autonomous children’s...
) during his marriage ceremony. The Madia Gond are residents of
Bhamragad Taluka, of
Gadchiroli DistrictGadchiroli district is an administrative district in Maharashtra, India. The town of Gadchiroli is the administrative headquarters of the district....
, of
MaharashtraMaharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
,
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Poles from the Northwest have sometimes been exported to be displayed out of their original context. In
BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, at the side of
Virginia Water LakeVirginia Water Lake lies on the southern edge of Windsor Great Park, in the borough of Runnymede in Surrey and the civil parishes of Old Windsor and Sunninghill and Ascot in Berkshire, in England. It is a man-made lake taking its name from a natural body of water of the same name...
, in the south of
Windsor Great ParkWindsor Great Park is a large deer park of , to the south of the town of Windsor on the border of Berkshire and Surrey in England. The park was, for many centuries, the private hunting ground of Windsor Castle and dates primarily from the mid-13th century...
there is a 100 feet (30.5 m) high
CanadianCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
totem pole given to Queen Elizabeth II, commemorating the centenary of
British ColumbiaBritish Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
Sources
- Barbeau, Marius (1950) Totem Poles. 2 vols. (Anthropology Series 30, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 119.) Ottawa: National Museum of Canada.
- Garfield, Viola E.
Viola E. Garfield was an American anthropologist best known for her work on the social organization and plastic arts of the Tsimshian nation in British Columbia and Alaska.-Early life:...
, and Forrest, Linn A. (1961) The Wolf and the Raven: Totem Poles of Southeastern Alaska. Revised edition. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-73998-3.
- Reed, Ishmael (ed.) (2003) From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry across the Americas, 1900-2002. ISBN 1-56025-458-0.
Further reading
- Averill, Lloyd J., and Daphne K. Morris (1995) Northwest Coast Native and Native-Style Art: A Guidebook for Western Washington. Seattle: University of Washington Press.
- Brindze, Ruth (1951) The Story of the Totem Pole. New York: Vanguard Press.
- Garfield, Viola E. (1951) Meet the Totem. Sitka, Alaska: Sitka Printing Company.
- Halpin, Marjorie M. (1981) Totem Poles: an illustrated guide. Vancouver: UBC Press.
- Hassett, Dawn, and F. W. M. Drew (1982) Totem Poles of Prince Rupert. Prince Rupert, BC: Museum of Northern British Columbia.
- Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane (1990) Totem Pole. New York: Holiday House.
- Huteson, Pamela Rae. (2002) Legends in Wood, Stories of the Totems. Tigard, Or: Greatland Classic Sales. ISBN 1-886462-51-8
- Keithahn, Edward L.
Edward L. Keithahn was an American museum curator and the author of a well known book on totem poles, Monuments in Cedar, published in 1945....
(1945) Monuments in Cedar. Ketchikan, Alaska: Roy Anderson.
- Macnair, Peter L., Alan L. Hoover, and Kevin Neary (1984) The Legacy: Tradition and Innovation in Northwest Coast Indian Art. Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre.
- Meuli, Jonathan (2001) Shadow House: Interpretations of Northwest Coast Art. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers.
- Smyly, John, and Carolyn Smyly (1973) Those Born at Koona: The Totem Poles of the Haida Village Skedans, Queen Charlotte Islands. Saanichton, BC: Hancock House.
- Stewart, Hilary (1979) Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast. Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre.
- Stewart, Hilary (1993). Looking at Totem Poles. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97259-9.
- Wherry, Joseph H. (1964) The Totem Pole Indians. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company.
External links