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Totem poles ( hai, gyáaʼaang) are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, by First Nations and
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast The Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and prac ...
including northern Northwest Coast
Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...
, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, Kwakwaka'wakw and Nuu-chah-nulth communities in southern British Columbia, and the Coast Salish communities in Washington and British Columbia. The word ''totem'' derives from the Algonquian word '' odoodem'' [] meaning "(his) kinship group". The carvings may symbolize or commemorate ancestors, cultural beliefs that recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events. The poles may also serve as functional architectural features, welcome signs for village visitors, mortuary vessels for the remains of deceased ancestors, or as a means to publicly ridicule someone. They may embody a historical narrative of significance to the people carving and installing the pole. Given the complexity and symbolic meanings of these various carvings, their placement and importance lies in the observer's knowledge and connection to the meanings of the figures and the culture in which they are embedded. Contrary to common misconception, they are not
worshipped Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...
or the subject of spiritual practice.


History

Totem poles serve as important illustrations of family lineage and the cultural heritage of the Indigenous peoples in the islands and coastal areas of North America's Pacific Northwest, especially British Columbia, Canada, and coastal areas of Washington and southeastern Alaska in the United States. Families of traditional carvers come from the
Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...
, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl), Nuxalk (Bella Coola), and Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka), among others. The poles are typically carved from the highly rot-resistant trunks of '' Thuja plicata'' trees (popularly known as giant cedar or western red cedar), which eventually decay in the moist, rainy climate of the coastal Pacific Northwest. Because of the region's climate and the nature of the materials used to make the poles, few examples carved before 1900 remain. Noteworthy examples, some dating as far back as 1880, include those at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC in Vancouver, the
Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...
in
Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...
, and the
Totem Heritage Center The Totem Heritage Center is a historical and cultural museum founded in 1976 and located in Ketchikan, Alaska. The center is operated by the city of Ketchikan. The location of the Totem Heritage Center was listed on the National Register of Hist ...
in Ketchikan, Alaska. Totem poles are the largest, but not the only, objects that coastal Pacific Northwest natives use to depict spiritual reverence, family legends, sacred beings and culturally important animals, people, or historical events. The freestanding poles seen by the region's first European explorers were likely preceded by a long history of decorative carving. Stylistic features of these poles were borrowed from earlier, smaller prototypes, or from the interior support posts of house beams. Although 18th-century accounts of European explorers traveling along the coast indicate that decorated interior and exterior house posts existed prior to 1800, the posts were smaller and fewer in number than in subsequent decades. Prior to the 19th century, the lack of efficient carving tools, along with sufficient wealth and leisure time to devote to the craft, delayed the development of elaborately carved, freestanding poles.Barbeau, "Totem Poles: According to Crests and Topics", p. 5. Before iron and steel arrived in the area, artists used tools made of stone, shells, or beaver teeth for carving. The process was slow and laborious; axes were unknown. By the late eighteenth century, the use of metal cutting tools enabled more complex carvings and increased production of totem poles.Garfield and Forrest, pp. 1–2. The tall monumental poles appearing in front of homes in coastal villages probably did not appear until after the beginning of the nineteenth century. Eddie Malin has proposed that totem poles progressed from house posts, funerary containers, and memorial markers into symbols of
clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
and family wealth and prestige. He argues that the
Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...
people of the islands of Haida Gwaii originated carving of the poles, and that the practice spread outward to the Tsimshian and Tlingit, and then down the coast to the Indigenous people of British Columbia and northern Washington. Malin's theory is supported by the photographic documentation of the Pacific Northwest coast's cultural history and the more sophisticated designs of the Haida poles. Accounts from the 1700s describe and illustrate carved poles and timber homes along the coast of the Pacific Northwest. By the early nineteenth century, widespread importation of iron and steel tools from Great Britain, the United States, and elsewhere led to easier and more rapid production of carved wooden goods, including poles. In the 19th century, American and European trade and settlement initially led to the growth of totem-pole carving, but United States and Canadian policies and practices of acculturation and assimilation caused a decline in the development of
Alaska Native Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...
and First Nations cultures and their crafts, and sharply reduced totem-pole production by the end of the century. Between 1830 and 1880, the
maritime fur trade The 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 ex ...
, mining, and fisheries gave rise to an accumulation of wealth among the coastal peoples. Much of it was spent and distributed in lavish
potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Science ...
celebrations, frequently associated with the construction and erection of totem poles. The monumental poles commissioned by wealthy family leaders to represent their social status and the importance of their families and clans. In the 1880s and 1890s, tourists, collectors, scientists and naturalist interested in Indigenous culture collected and photographed totem poles and other artifacts, many of which were put on display at expositions such as the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the 1893 World's Columbia Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.Kramer, ''Alaska's Totem Poles'', p. 25. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, before the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978, the practice of Indigenous religion was outlawed, and traditional Indigenous cultural practices were also strongly discouraged by Christian
missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
. This included the carving of totem poles. Missionaries urged converts to cease production and destroy existing poles. Nearly all totem-pole-making had ceased by 1901. Carving of monumental and mortuary poles continued in some, more remote villages as late as 1905; however, as the original sites were abandoned, the poles and timber homes were left to decay and vandalism.Garfield and Forrest, p. 8. Beginning in the late 1930s, a combination of cultural, linguistic, and artistic revivals, along with scholarly interest and the continuing fascination and support of an educated and empathetic public, led to a renewal and extension of this artistic tradition. In 1938 the United States Forest Service began a program to reconstruct and preserve the old poles, salvaging about 200, roughly one-third of those known to be standing at the end of the 19th century. With renewed interest in Indigenous arts and traditions in the 1960s and 1970s, freshly carved totem poles were erected up and down the coast, while related artistic production was introduced in many new and traditional media, ranging from tourist trinkets to masterful works in wood, stone, blown and etched glass, and other traditional and non-traditional media. In June 2022 during the biennial Celebration festival in Juneau, Alaska, the
Sealaska Heritage Institute Sealaska Corporation is one of thirteen Alaska Native Regional Corporations created under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA) in settlement of aboriginal land claims. Sealaska was incorporated in Alaska on June 16, 1972.Corpo ...
unveiled the first 360-degree totem pole in Alaska: the ''Sealaska Cultural Values Totem Pole''. The structure, carved out of a 600-year-old cedar tree, "represents all three tribes of Southeast Alaska —
Lingít The Tlingit ( or ; also spelled Tlinkit) are indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. Their language is the Tlingit language (natively , pronounced ),
,
Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...
and Tsimshian."


Meaning and purpose

Totem poles can symbolize characters and events in mythology, or convey the experiences of recent ancestors and living people. Some of these characters may appear as stylistic representations of objects in nature, while others are more realistically carved. Pole carvings may include animals, fish, plants, insects, and humans, or they may represent supernatural beings such as the Thunderbird. Some symbolize beings that can transform themselves into another form, appearing as combinations of animals or part-animal/part-human forms. Consistent use of a specific character over time, with some slight variations in carving style, helped develop similarities among these shared symbols that allowed people to recognize one from another. For example, the raven is symbolized by a long, straight beak, while the eagle's beak is curved, and a beaver is depicted with two large front teeth, a piece of wood held in his front paws, and a paddle-shaped tail.Feldman, p. 6. The meanings of the designs on totem poles are as varied as the cultures that make them. Some poles celebrate cultural beliefs that may recount familiar legends, clan lineages, or notable events, while others are mostly artistic. Animals and other characters carved on the pole are typically used as symbols to represent characters or events in a story; however, some may reference the
moiety Moiety may refer to: Chemistry * Moiety (chemistry), a part or functional group of a molecule ** Moiety conservation, conservation of a subgroup in a chemical species Anthropology * Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is ...
of the pole's owner, or simply fill up empty space on the pole.Feldman, pp. 1, 5. Depictions of thrusting tongues and linked tongues may symbolize
socio-political power In social science and politics, power is the social production of an effect that determines the capacities, actions, beliefs, or conduct of actors. Power does not exclusively refer to the threat or use of force ( coercion) by one actor agains ...
. The carved figures interlock one above the other to create the overall design, which may rise to a height of or more. Smaller carvings may be positioned in vacant spaces, or they may be tucked inside the ears or hang out of the mouths of the pole's larger figures.
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.
People from cultures that do not carve totem poles often assume that the linear representation of the figures places the most importance on the highest figure, an idea that became pervasive in the dominant culture after it entered into mainstream parlance by the 1930s with the phrase "low man on the totem pole" (and as the title of a bestselling 1941 humor book by
H. Allen Smith Harry Allen Wolfgang Smith (December 19, 1907—February 24, 1976) was an American journalist, humorist, and writer whose books were popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Family and early career Smith was born in McLeansboro, Illinois, where he liv ...
). However, Native sources either reject the linear component altogether, or reverse the hierarchy, with the most important representations on the bottom, bearing the weight of all the other figures, or at eye-level with the viewer to heighten their significance. Many poles have no vertical arrangement at all, consisting of a lone figure atop an undecorated column.


Types

There are six basic types of upright, pole carvings that are commonly referred to as "totem poles"; not all involve the carving of what may be considered "totem" figures: house frontal poles, interior house posts, mortuary poles, memorial poles, welcome poles, and the ridicule or shame pole.


House frontal poles

This type of pole, usually tallNewman, p. 16. is the most decorative. Its carvings tell the story of the family, clan or village who own them. These poles are also known as heraldic, crest, or family poles. Poles of this type are placed outside the clan house of the most important village leaders. Often, watchman figures are carved at the top of the pole to protect the pole owner's family and the village. Another type of house frontal pole is the entrance or doorway pole, which is attached to the center front of the home and includes an oval-shaped opening through the base that serves as the entrance to the clan house.Feldman, p. 12.


House posts

These interior poles, typically in height, are usually shorter than exterior poles. The interior posts support the roof beam of a clan house and include a large notch at the top, where the beam can rest. A clan house may have two to four or more house posts, depending on the cultural group who built it. Carvings on these poles, like those of the house frontal poles, are often used as a storytelling device and help tell the story of the owners' family history.Newman, p. 19.Feldman, p. 13. House posts were carved by the Coast Salish and were more common than the free-standing totem poles seen in Northern cultural groups.


Mortuary pole

The rarest type of pole carving is a mortuary structure that incorporates grave boxes with carved supporting poles. It may include a recessed back to hold the grave box. These are among the tallest and most prominent poles, reaching in height. The Haida and Tlingit people erect mortuary poles at the death of important individuals in the community. These poles may have a single figure carved at the top, which may depict the clan's crest, but carvings usually cover its entire length. Ashes or the body of the deceased person are placed in the upper portion of the pole.


Memorial pole

This type of pole, which usually stands in front of a clan house, is erected about a year after a person has died. The clan chief's memorial pole may be raised at the center of the village. The pole's purpose is to honor the deceased person and identify the relative who is taking over as his successor within the clan and the community. Traditionally, the memorial pole has one carved figure at the top, but an additional figure may also be added at the bottom of the pole. Memorial poles may also commemorate an event. For example, several memorial totem poles were erected by the Tlingits in honor of Abraham Lincoln, one of which was relocated to Saxman, Alaska, in 1938. The Lincoln pole at Saxman commemorates the end of hostilities between two rival Tlingit clans and symbolizes the hope for peace and prosperity following the American occupation of the Alaskan territory. The story begins in 1868, when the United States government built a customs house and fort on
Tongass Island Tongass Island, historically also spelled Tongas Island, is an island in the southern Alaska Panhandle, near the marine boundary with Canada at 54–40 N. It was the site of Fort Tongass, which was established shortly after the Alaska Purchase as a ...
and left the US revenue cutter ''Lincoln'' to patrol the area. After American soldiers at the fort and aboard the ''Lincoln'' provided protection to the Tongass group against its rival, the Kagwantans, the Tongass group commissioned the Lincoln pole to commemorate the event.


Welcome pole

Carved by the Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl), Salish and Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) people, most of the poles include large carvings of human figures, some as tall as . Welcome poles are placed at the edge of a stream or saltwater beach to welcome guests to the community, or possibly to intimidate strangers.


Shame/ridicule pole

Poles used for public ridicule are usually called shame poles, and were created to embarrass individuals or groups for their unpaid debts or when they did something wrong. The poles are often placed in prominent locations and removed after the debt is paid or the wrong is corrected. Shame pole carvings represent the person being shamed. One famous shame pole is the Seward Pole at the
Saxman Totem Park Saxman Totem Park is a public park in the city of Saxman, Alaska, just south of Ketchikan in southeastern Alaska. The park is home to a collection of totem poles, some of which are old poles relocated to this place from unoccupied Tlingit village ...
in
Saxman, Alaska Saxman (Lingít: ''T’èesh Ḵwáan Xagu'') is a town on Revillagigedo Island in Ketchikan Gateway Borough in southeastern Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 411, down from 431 in 2000. The city of Ketchikan lies just ...
. Originally carved in the , the pole shamed former U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward for his "lack of recognition of Indigenous peoples at an early point in Alaska’s U.S. history," as well as not reciprocating the generosity of his Tlingit hosts following an 1869
potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Science ...
given in his honor. The figure's red-painted nose and ears may symbolize drunkenness or Seward's stinginess. In the 1940s, a second iteration of the pole was built by Tlingit men enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps; according to the Alaska Historical Society, the United States government was unaware that the pole's intent was to shame Seward until after the completion of the project. In 2014, this second pole began to fall apart; a renewed version was carved in 2017 by local Tlingit artist Stephen Jackson, who combined political caricature with Northwest Coast style. Another example of the shame pole is the Three Frogs pole on
Chief Shakes Chief Shakes is a distinguished Tlingit leadership title passed down through generations among groups of native people from Northwestern North America. Lineages of the Shakes Origin The orphan Gush X’een (translation: Dorsal Fin Screen, Englis ...
Island, at
Wrangell, Alaska The City and Borough of Wrangell ( tli, Ḵaachx̱ana.áakʼw, russian: Врангель) is a borough in Alaska, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 2,127, down from 2,369 in 2010. Incorporated as a Unified Home Rule Bor ...
. This pole was erected by Chief Shakes to shame the Kiks.ádi
clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
into repaying a debt incurred for the support of three Kiks.ádi women who were allegedly cohabiting with three slaves in Shakes's household. When the Kiks.ádi leaders refused to pay support for the women, Shakes commissioned a pole with carvings of three frogs, which represented the crest of the Kiks.ádi clan. It is not known if the debt was ever repaid. The pole stands next to the Chief Shakes Tribal House in Wrangell. The pole's unique crossbar shape has become popularly associated with the town of Wrangell, and continues to be used as part of the ''Wrangell Sentinel'' newspaper's masthead. In 1942, the U.S. Forest Service commissioned a pole to commemorate Alexander Baranof, the Russian governor and Russian American Company manager, as a civilian works project. The pole's original intent was to commemorate a peace treaty between the Russians and Tlingits that the governor helped broker in 1805. George Benson, a Sitka carver and craftsman, created the original design. The completed version originally stood in Totem Square in downtown
Sitka, Alaska russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...
. When Benson and other Sitka carvers were not available to do the work, the U.S. Forest Service had
CCC CCC may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canada's Capital Cappies, the Critics and Awards Program in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada * ''Capcom Classics Collection'', a 2005 compilation of arcade games for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox * CCC, the pro ...
workers carve the pole in Wrangell, Alaska. Because Sitka and Wrangell native groups were rivals, it has been argued that the Wrangell carvers may have altered Benson's original design.. For unknown reasons, the Wrangell carvers depicted the Baranov figure without clothes. Following a
Sitka Tribe of Alaska The Sitka Tribe of Alaska is the federally recognized tribal government for more than 4,000 federally recognized Native people, mostly Alaska Natives from Southeast Alaska, living in or near Sitka in the U.S. state of Alaska Alaska ( ; ...
-sponsored removal ceremony, the pole was lowered due to safety concerns on October 20, 2010, using 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 olein Alaska". The pole was re-erected in Totem Square in 2011. On March 24, 2007, a shame pole was erected in Cordova, Alaska, that includes the inverted and distorted face of former
Exxon ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
CEO
Lee Raymond Lee R. Raymond (born August 13, 1938) is an American businessman and was the chief executive officer (CEO) 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 served ...
. The pole represents the unpaid debt of $5 billion in punitive damages that a federal court in
Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
, determined Exxon owes for its role in causing the
Exxon Valdez oil spill The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. ''Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, west o ...
in Prince William Sound.


Totem poles outside of original context

Some poles from the Pacific Northwest have been moved to other locations for display out of their original context. In 1903 Alaska's district governor,
John Green Brady John (James) Green Brady (May 25, 1847 – December 17, 1918) was an American politician who served as the Governor of the District of Alaska from 1897 to 1906. He was forced to resign due to his alleged involvement with the fraudulent Reynolds ...
, collected fifteen Tlingit and Haida totem poles for public displays from villages in southeastern Alaska. At the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (the world's fair held in
Saint Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...
, in 1904), fourteen of them were initially installed outside the Alaska pavilion at the fair; the other one, which had broken in transit, was repaired and installed at the fair's Esquimau Village. Thirteen of these poles were returned to Alaska, where they were eventually installed in the Sitka National Historical Park. The other two poles were sold; one pole from the Alaska pavilion went to the Milwaukee Public Museum and the pole from the Esquimau Village was sold and then given to industrialist David M. Parry, who installed it on his estate in what became known as the
Golden Hill Golden Hill or Golden Hills may refer to: Places China *Golden Hill, Hong Kong, a mountain South Africa * Golden Hill, Western Cape, a suburb in Somerset West United Kingdom *Golden Hill, Bristol, a suburb *Golden Hill Fort, Isle of Wight United ...
neighborhood of
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
, Indiana. Although the remains of the original pole at Golden Hill no longer exist, a replica was raised on April 13, 1996, on the front lawn of The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis. Approximately two years later, the replica was moved inside the museum, and in 2005, it was installed in a new atrium after completion of a museum expansion project.


Indian New Deal

The
Indian New Deal The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...
of the 1930s strongly promoted native arts and crafts in the United States, and in the totem pole they discovered an art that was widely appreciated by white society. In Alaska the Indian Division of the Civilian Conservation Corps restored old totem poles, copied those beyond repair, and carved new ones. The Indian Arts and Crafts Board, a U.S. federal government agency, facilitated their sale to the general public. The project was lucrative, but anthropologists complained that it stripped the natives of their traditional culture and stripped away the meaning of the totem poles. Another example occurred in 1938, when the
U.S. Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency in ...
began a totem pole restoration program in Alaska. Poles were removed from their original places as funerary and crest poles to be copied or repaired and then placed in parks based on English and French garden designs to demystify their meaning for tourists. In England at the side of
Virginia Water Lake Virginia 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 Sunningdale in Berkshire, in England. It is a man-made lake taking its name from a natural b ...
, in the south of Windsor Great Park, there is a Canadian totem pole that was given to
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
to commemorate the centenary of British Columbia. In Seattle, Washington, a Tlingit funerary totem pole was raised in Pioneer Square in 1899, after being taken from an Alaskan village. In addition, the totem pole collections in Vancouver's Stanley Park, Victoria's Thunderbird Park, and the
Museum of Anthropology This is a list of museums with major collections in ethnography and anthropology. It is sorted by descending number of objects listed. # Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada #: 3.75 million artifacts # Musée du quai Branly, P ...
at the University of British Columbia were removed from their original locations around British Columbia. In Stanley Park, the original Skedans Mortuary Pole has been returned to Haida Gwaii and is now replaced by a replica. In the late 1980s, the remaining carved poles were sent to various museums for preservation, with the park board commissioning and loaning replacement carvings.


Construction and maintenance

After the tree to be used for the totem pole is selected, it is cut down and moved to the carving site, where the bark and outer layer of wood (sapwood) is removed. Next, the side of the tree to be carved is chosen and the back half of the tree is removed. The center of the log is hollowed out to make it lighter and to keep it from cracking.Feldman, pp. 21–22. Early tools used to carve totem poles were made of stone, shell, or bone, but beginning in the late 1700s, the use of iron tools made the carving work faster and easier. In the early days, the basic design for figures may have been painted on the wood to guide the carvers, but today's carvers use paper patterns as outlines for their designs. Carvers use chain saws to make the rough shapes and cuts, while adzes and chisels are used to chop the wood. Carvers use knives and other woodworking tools to add the finer details. When the carving is complete, paint is added to enhance specific details of the figures. Raising a totem pole is rarely done using modern methods, even for poles installed in modern settings. Most artists use a traditional method followed by a pole-raising ceremony. The traditional method calls for a deep trench to be dug. One end of the pole is placed at the bottom of the trench; the other end is supported at an upward angle by a wooden scaffold. 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 upright, the trench is filled with rocks and dirt. After the raising is completed, the carver, the carver's assistants, and others invited to attend the event perform a celebratory dance next to the pole. A community
potlatch A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States,Harkin, Michael E., 2001, Potlatch in Anthropology, International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Science ...
celebration typically follows the pole raising to commemorate the event.Feldman, pp. 22–23. Totem poles are typically not well maintained after their installation and the potlatch celebration. The poles usually last from 60 to 80 years; only a few have stood longer than 75 years, and even fewer have reached 100 years of age. Once the wood rots so badly that the pole begins to lean and pose a threat to passersby, it is either destroyed or pushed over and removed. Older poles typically fall over during the winter storms that batter the coast. The owners of a collapsed pole may commission a new one to replace it.


Cultural property

Each culture typically has complex rules and customs regarding the traditional designs represented on poles. The designs are generally considered the property of a particular clan or family group of traditional carvers, and this ownership of the designs may not be transferred to the person who has commissioned the carvings. There have been protests when those who have not been trained in the traditional carving methods, cultural meanings and protocol, have made "fake totem poles" for what could be considered crass public display and commercial purposes. The misappropriation of coastal Pacific Northwest culture by the art and tourist trinket market has resulted in production of cheap imitations of totem poles executed with little or no knowledge of their complex stylistic conventions or cultural significance. These include imitations made for commercial and even comedic use in venues that serve alcohol, and in other settings that are insensitive or outright offensive to the sacred nature of some of the carvings. In the early 1990s, the
Haisla Haisla may refer to: * Haisla people, an indigenous people living in Kitamaat, British Columbia, Canada. * Haisla language, their northern Wakashan language. * Haisla Nation The Haisla Nation is the Indian Act-mandated band government which nominall ...
First Nation of the Pacific Northwest began a lengthy struggle to repatriate the
Gʼpsgolox totem pole The Gʼpsgolox totem pole was a nine-metre-high mortuary pole that was made in 1872 by the Haisla people on the shore of Douglas Channel in British Columbia, Canada. In 1929 it was brought to Sweden and the Museum of Ethnography. In 2006 it was r ...
from Sweden's Museum of Ethnography. Their successful efforts were documented in
Gil Cardinal Gilbert Joseph "Gil" Cardinal (July 19, 1950 – November 21, 2015) was a Canadian filmmaker of Métis descent. Born in Edmonton in 1950, and placed in a foster home at the age of two, Cardinal only discovered his Métis roots while making his d ...
's National Film Board of Canada documentary, ''Totem: The Return of the G'psgolox Pole''. In October 2015, a Tlingit totem pole was returned from Hawaii to Alaska after being taken from a village by Hollywood actor John Barrymore in 1931.


Gallery

File:Tlingit totem pole.jpg, Tlingit totem pole in Ketchikan, Alaska, File:Alert Bay Totems.jpg, Totem poles in front of homes in Alert Bay, British Columbia in the 1900s File:Haida Houses.jpg, Totem poles in Skidegate, 26 July 1878 File:Totem Park pole 1.jpg, A totem pole in Totem Park, Victoria, British Columbia File:Totem Park pole 2.jpg, From Totem Park, Victoria, British Columbia File:Tlingit K'alyaan Totem Pole August 2005.jpg, The ''K'alyaan'' Totem Pole of the Tlingit Kiks.ádi Clan, erected at
Sitka National Historical Park Sitka National Historical Park (earlier known as Indian River Park and Totem Park) is a national historical park in Sitka in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was redesignated as a national historical park from its previous status as national monumen ...
to commemorate the lives lost in the 1804 Battle of Sitka File:Totem pole (js) 2.jpg, From Saxman Totem Park, Ketchikan, Alaska File:Totem pole (js) 1.jpg, From Saxman Totem Park, Ketchikan, Alaska File:Totem poles.jpg, From Brockton Point, Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia File:Replica of G'psgolox Pole.jpg, Replica of G'psgolox Pole. A gift from the Haisla First Nation to the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm, Sweden. File:50th Infantry Regiment Coat of Arms.png, US 50th Infantry Regiment Coat of arms with a totem pole arrangement of a US American eagle and a Russian Bear (signifying transfer of ownership of Alaska from Russia to United States) File:Kwakwaka’wakw House Post.jpg, Kwakwaka'wakw House Post at the
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
File:Moa-4.jpg, House post at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC File:Haida totem pole. Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC.jpg,
Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...
totem pole. Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, BC File:WTMTL Organisateur Mât totémique Kwakiutl (milieu).jpg, Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole on Notre Dame Island in Montreal File:Seattle - Curiosity Shop 04.jpg, Totem poles at
Ye Olde Curiosity Shop Ye Olde Curiosity Shop is a store founded in 1899, on the Central Waterfront of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is currently located on Pier 54. Best known today as a souvenir shop, it also has aspects of a dime museum, and was for many ...
File:Emily Carr 1928 Kitwancool.png, 1928 Emily Carr painting, ''Kitwancool'' File:Totem Pole Sculpture by Lelooska Smith displayed at Denver Museum of Nature and Science.jpg, Totem pole by Lelooska, Don Morse Smith (non-Native) at Denver Museum of Nature and Science File:Kayung Pole.jpg, The Kayung totem pole in 1884 File:British Museum Totem Pole 1.jpg, The Kayung totem pole at the British Museum File:DSC02472 - Grand Hall.jpg, Totem poles at the
Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...
File:Totem Canadiense DSC 0441 (33954720623).jpg, Totem pole at Chapultepec


Examples

The title of "The World's Tallest Totem Pole" is or has at one time been claimed by several coastal towns of North America's Pacific Northwest.Kramer, ''Alaska's Totem Poles'', p. 83. Disputes over which is genuinely the tallest depends on factors such the number of logs used in construction or the affiliation of the carver. Competitions to make the tallest pole remain prevalent, although it is becoming more difficult to procure trees of sufficient height. The tallest poles include those in: * Alert Bay, British Columbia—, Kwakwaka'wakw. This pole is composed of two or three pieces. * McKinleyville, California—, carved from a single redwood tree by Ernest Pierson and John Nelson. *
Kalama, Washington Kalama (kaw-law-maw) is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington, Cowlitz County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is part of the Longview, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,959 as of the 2020 United State ...
—, carved from a single pole by Lelooska. * Kake, Alaska—, single log carving, Tlingit * Victoria, British Columbia ( Beacon Hill Park)—, raised in 1956, Kwakwaka'wakw, carved by Mungo Martin with Henry Hunt and David Martin. * Tacoma, Washington (Fireman's Park)—, carved by Alaska Natives in 1903. * Vancouver, British Columbia (Maritime Museum) —, Kwakwaka'wakw, carved by Mungo Martin with Henry Hunt and David Martin. The thickest totem pole ever carved to date is in Duncan, British Columbia. Carved by Richard Hunt in 1988 in the Kwakwaka'wakw style, and measuring over in diameter, it represents Cedar Man transforming into his human form. Notable collections of totem poles on display include these sites: * Alaska State Museum,
Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...
*
American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. In Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 26 inter ...
, New York City,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
* Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle *
Canadian Museum of History The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...
, Hull area of Gatineau, Quebec * Duncan, British Columbia, the City of Totems * Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia * Haida Heritage Centre, Skidegate, British Columbia *
'Ksan ʼKsan is a historical village and living museum of the Gitxsan Indigenous people in the Skeena Country of Northwestern British Columbia, Canada. ʼKsan is located near Hazelton at the confluence of the Skeena and Bulkley Rivers on Gitxsan t ...
, near
Hazelton, British Columbia Hazelton is a village located at the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers in northern British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1866 and in 2011 had a population of 305. The nearby larger community of New Hazelton is the northernmost point ...
* Museum of Anthropology at UBC, Vancouver, British Columbia *
Nisga'a and Haida Crest Poles of the Royal Ontario Museum The Nisga'a and Haida Crest Poles of the Royal Ontario Museum are a collection of four large totem poles (sometimes referred to as "crest poles"), hand carved from western red cedar by the Nisga’a people and Haida people of British Columb ...
, Toronto * Nisga'a Museum, in Laxgalts'ap, British Columbia * Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria, British Columbia *
Saxman Totem Park Saxman Totem Park is a public park in the city of Saxman, Alaska, just south of Ketchikan in southeastern Alaska. The park is home to a collection of totem poles, some of which are old poles relocated to this place from unoccupied Tlingit village ...
,
Saxman, Alaska Saxman (Lingít: ''T’èesh Ḵwáan Xagu'') is a town on Revillagigedo Island in Ketchikan Gateway Borough in southeastern Alaska, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 411, down from 431 in 2000. The city of Ketchikan lies just ...
*
Sitka National Historical Park Sitka National Historical Park (earlier known as Indian River Park and Totem Park) is a national historical park in Sitka in the U.S. state of Alaska. It was redesignated as a national historical park from its previous status as national monumen ...
,
Sitka, Alaska russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...
* Stanley Park (Brockton Point), Vancouver, British Columbia *
Totem Bight State Historical Park Totem Bight State Historical Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located north of Ketchikan. Description and history The park is located on the former site of a traditional Native campground known as Mud Village and Mud Bigh ...
, Ketchikan, Alaska * Thunderbird Park, Victoria, British Columbia *
Totem Heritage Center The Totem Heritage Center is a historical and cultural museum founded in 1976 and located in Ketchikan, Alaska. The center is operated by the city of Ketchikan. The location of the Totem Heritage Center was listed on the National Register of Hist ...
, Ketchikan, AlaskaKramer, ''Alaska's Totem Poles'', pp. 84–85.


See also

* Huabiao * Jangseung * Crest (heraldry) *
Stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
*
Roofed pole Roofed pole or roofed pillar ( lt, stogastulpis, plural: ''stogastulpiai'', from ''stogas'' – 'roof' and ''stulpas'' – 'pole, pillar') is a traditional Lithuanians, Lithuanian wooden shrine. They may have anywhere between one and three layers o ...
*
Irminsul An Irminsul (Old Saxon 'great pillar') was a sacred, pillar-like object attested as playing an important role in the Germanic paganism of the Saxons. Medieval sources describe how an Irminsul was destroyed by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars. A ...
* Tiki * Chemamull *
Serge (religious) A ''serge'' ( bua, сэргэ; ) is a hitching post, property marker, and ritual pole used among the Buryats and Yakuts. Property marker The is placed to indicate that the place in question has an owner. For example, a stands as a pole a ...
* Conservation and restoration of totem poles


Notes


References

* Barbeau, Marius (1950
''Totem Poles: According to Crests and Topics.'' Vol. 1.
(Anthropology Series 30, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 119.) Ottawa: National Museum of Canada. (PDFs) * Barbeau, Marius (1950
''Totem Poles: According to Location.'' Vol. 2.
(Anthropology Series 30, National Museum of Canada Bulletin 119.) Ottawa: National Museum of Canada. (PDFs) * * Garfield, Viola E. (1951) ''Meet the Totem.'' Sitka, Alaska: Sitka Printing Company. * Garfield, Viola E., and Forrest, Linn A. (1961) ''The Wolf and the Raven: Totem Poles of Southeastern Alaska.'' Revised edition. Seattle: University of Washington Press. . * Jonaitis, Aldona. (1990) "Totem Poles And The Indian New Deal," ''European Contributions to American Studies'' Vol. 18, pp 267–277. * Keithahn, Edward L. (1963) ''Monuments in Cedar.'' Seattle, Washington: Superior Publishing Co. * * * * * Reed, Ishmael (ed.) (2003) ''From Totems to Hip-Hop: A Multicultural Anthology of Poetry across the Americas, 1900-2002.'' . * Wherry, Joseph H. (1964) ''The Totem Pole Indians.'' New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company.


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. * Halpin, Marjorie M. (1981) ''Totem Poles: An Illustrated Guide.'' Vancouver, BC: 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, Oregon: Greatland Classic Sales. * 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. .


External links


Article related to conservation of Pacific Northwest totem poles
online interpretive tour
''Totem: The Return of the Gpsgolox Pole''
a feature-length film by
Gil Cardinal Gilbert Joseph "Gil" Cardinal (July 19, 1950 – November 21, 2015) was a Canadian filmmaker of Métis descent. Born in Edmonton in 1950, and placed in a foster home at the age of two, Cardinal only discovered his Métis roots while making his d ...
, National Film Board of Canada
Totem Poles: Heraldic Columns of the Northwest Coast Essay by Robin K. Wright
niversity of Washington Digital Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Totem Pole Culture of the United States Native American relics Culture of Canada Culture of the Pacific Northwest Heraldry Indigenous woodcarving of the Americas Indigenous culture of the Pacific Northwest Northwest Coast art