NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN TOTEM POLES
TOTEM POLES
E L I WA N G GRAPHIC | TERM2 C D 3 : N A R R AT I V E & S C A L E
TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S
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Totem poles
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What are totem poles?
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History
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Pole Types
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Carving a pole
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Cultural Styles
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Socio-cultural importance of totem poles
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The Nature of Totemism
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Group totemism
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Individual totemism
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Totem pole craftsman
What are totem poles? Totem poles are monuments created by First Nations of
A totem pole typically features symbolic and stylized
the Pacific Northwest to represent and commemorate
human, animal, and supernatural forms. Totem poles
ancestry, histories, people, or events. Totem poles are
are primarily visual representations of kinship, depict-
typically created out of red cedar, a malleable wood
ing family crests and clan membership. For example,
relatively abundant in the Pacific Northwest, and would
some Kwakwaka’wakw families of northern Vancouver
be erected to be visible within a community.
Island belonging to the Thunderbird Clan will feature a Thunderbird crest and familial legends on their poles.
Most totem poles display beings, or crest animals,
Other common crests among coastal First Nations
marking a family’s lineage and validating the powerful
include the wolf, eagle, grizzly bear, thunderbird, killer
rights and privileges that the family held. Totem poles
whale, frog, raven, and salmon. Wealthy and influen-
would not necessarily tell a story so much as it would
tial families may have more than one crest. Totem poles
serve to document stories and histories familiar to com-
can also be created to honour a particular event or
munity members or particular family or clan members.
important person. Of all the material culture produced by coastal First Nations, the totem pole is likely one of the most recognizable cultural symbols of the Pacific Northwest. The array of different totem pole styles and designs reflect the rich diversity of the First Nations histories and cultures that produced them. This section will explore the meaning and purpose of totem poles, how they are constructed, stylistic variations, and their significance in cultural revitalization initiatives among First Nations.
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History The beginning of totem pole construction started in
Eddie Malin (1986) has proposed a theory of totem
North America. Being made of wood, they decay
pole development which describes totem poles as
easily in the rain forest environment of the Northwest
progressing from house posts, funerary containers,
Coast, so no examples of poles carved before 1800
and memorial markers into symbols of clan and fam-
exist. However eighteenth century accounts of Euro-
ily wealth and prestige. He argues that the center of
pean explorers along the coast indicate that poles
pole construction was the Haida people of the Queen
certainly existed at that time, although small and few
Charlotte Islands, from whence it spread outward to the
in number. In all likelihood, the freestanding poles seen
Tsimshian and Tlingit and then down the Pacific Coast
by the first European explorers were preceded by a
to the tribes of British Columbia and northern Wash-
long history of monumental carving, particularly interior
ington state. The regional stylistic differences between
house posts. Early twentieth-century theories, such
poles would then be due not to a change in style over
as those of the anthropologist Marius Barbeau who
time, but instead to application of existing regional
considered the poles an entirely post-contact phenom-
artistic styles to a new medium.
enon made possible by the introduction of metal tools, were treated with skepticism at the time and are now discredited.
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The disruptions following Euro-American trade and settlement first led to a florescence and then to a decline in the cultures and totem pole carving. The widespread importation of Euro-American iron and steel tools led to much more rapid and accurate production of carved wooden goods, including poles. It is not certain whether iron tools were actually introduced by Europeans, or whether iron tools were already produced aboriginally from drift iron recovered from shipwrecks; nevertheless Europeans simplified the acquisition of iron tools whose use greatly enhanced totem pole construction. The fur trade gave rise to a tremendous accumulation of wealth among the coastal peoples, and much of this wealth was spent and distributed in lavish potlatches 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.
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Totem pole construction underwent a dramatic decline at the end of the nineteenth century due to American and Canadian urges towards Euro-American enculturation and assimilation. Christian missionaries reviled the totem pole as an object of heathen worship and urged converts to cease production and destroy existing poles. Also, as the fur trade declined the incidence of poverty on the coast increased, reducing the incidence of totem pole construction. Fortunately, in the mid-twentieth century a combination of cultural, linguistic, 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, blown and etched glass, and many other traditional and non-traditional media.
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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 joinery. 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.
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Pole Types Most totem poles stand between 3 to 18 metres tall, although some can reach over 20 metres in height. Different types of totem poles are erected to serve various architectural and ceremonial purposes. Most longhouses had house posts, carved with human or animal forms, to support the main beams of the building. Similarly, some longhouses featured a house frontal pole, which would be located at the main entrance and often contained an opening for passage into the house. Mortuary poles, which contained the remains of the deceased in grave boxes, served as both a tomb and a headstone. Likewise, a memorial or commemorative pole was often created to honour an important deceased person, usually by his or her successor. Memorial poles tend to be the tallest type of pole, particularly among the Tsimshian of the Nass and Skeena Rivers in central British Columbia. Less commonly, some First Nations carved
in the nineteenth century, but today, some First Nations
“shame poles� to ridicule neighbouring groups who
erect these poles as a form of protest against the loss
had unpaid debts. Shame poles were more common
of Aboriginal territory or for other political grievances.
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One well-known shame pole, which stands in Cordova, Alaska, was carved by Tlingit fisherman Mike Webber to protest the environmental disaster and political mishandling of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound. The totem pole designs that most people recognize today were, for the most part, developed in the last 200 years. Most historians and other experts agree that totem pole carving did not reach its peak until the nineteenth century, when many coastal First Nations were involved in the fish and fur trade with Europeans. During this time, coastal First Nations acquired new tools that enabled them to construct more elaborate poles. Most poles, even though they are made from rot-resistant cedar, last only about a hundred years before they begin to disintegrate. This disintegration is recognized as a natural part of a pole’s life cycle.
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Carving A Pole Carving a totem pole requires not only artistic skill, but
Traditionally, totem pole carving was done by men,
an intimate understanding of cultural histories and forest
although today both men and women have become
ecology. Most totem poles are made from Western red
skilled carvers. Many totem pole carvers have honed
cedar, a rot-resistant tree that is straight-grained and
their skills since childhood, typically from watching
easy to carve. Before a cedar tree is harvested for a
their fathers and uncles carve from cedar wood. After
totem pole, many coastal First Nations communities will
a tree is felled, the wood is debarked and shaped
perform a ceremony of gratitude and respect in honour
using implements such as adzes, axes, chisels, carv-
of the tree. Several trees may be inspected before a
ing knives, and chainsaws. Other artists argue that
particular tree is chosen for its beauty and character.
technological innovation is an important part of cultural
According to Roy Henry Vickers, an artist of Tsimshian
transformation and growth. Whatever their personal
and Haida ancestry, “each tree is like a human being;
preference, artists use these tools to create the swirling,
it has its own personality and uniqueness.”
oval shapes common in coastal First Nations artwork, also known as “ovoid” design. An artist will frequently pay close attention to the grain and colouration of the wood to capture the sense of life and movement in his or her carving. After the wood is carved, some artists paint their poles, or choose to leave the pole unpainted. Many poles are coloured using synthetic paints, and some are painted with natural pigments derived from ground charcoal and ochre.
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Cultural Styles The cultural variations of totem pole styles are complex and go beyond the purview of this section, but a few generalizations can be made about regional characteristics. The Coast Salish of the Lower Fraser tended to carve house posts rather than single stand-alone poles. These house posts would frequently appear on the interiors of longhouses. In the central coast, the Haida of Haida Gwaii and the Tsimshian carved towering totem poles, often reaching over 100 feet tall, which were usually erected beside a longhouse. Coast Tsimshian poles often had horizontal line breaks between totem figures, while Haida poles had closely intertwined designs with a shallow relief. In contrast, the Kwakwaka’wakw poles featured deeply etched surfaces and jutting wings and beaks. The famous Stanley Park totem poles, although located on Coast Salish territory, include totem poles from all over coastal British Columbia, including Haida, Salish, Kwakwaka’wakw, Nisga’a, and Nuu-chah-nulth designs.
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From their earliest origins to today, totem poles hold a
For many years in the history of British Columbia, the
significant socio-cultural role in many First Nations com-
presence of totem poles in the province came under
munities. Most First Nations commemorate the raising
threat by non-Aboriginal settlers who predominantly
of a totem with a totem pole raising ceremony, which is
viewed the poles as paganistic, and an impediment to
often held concurrently with a feast or potlatch. Please
colonial efforts to Christianize and “civilize” First Na-
click here for a video of a totem pole raising ceremony
tions people. Colonial officials attempted to assimilate
at the University of Alaska Southeast. At these ceremo-
Aboriginal peoples by banning cultural expressions
nies, the significance of the pole and stories of the
and practices, such as the potlatch in 1884, based
crests are told, and visitors witness the events, includ-
on the expectation that Aboriginal peoples would then
ing the right of a family’s claim to the crests depicted.
adopt Christian traditions. Along with the outlawing
As totem poles may be erected to commemorate the life
of ceremonies, thousands of items, such as ceremonial
of a chief, or may be commissioned to celebrate an
regalia, were forcibly taken from Aboriginal peoples
important milestone or event, the reason for the pole’s
and sent to museums and private collectors throughout
creation is shared and celebrated in such ceremonies.
North America and Western Europe. This included totem poles. Much of this discriminatory legislation was not repealed until 1951, although the relocation and repatriation of stolen materials is ongoing.
Socio-cultural importance of totem poles For generations, First Nations
Museum in Victoria. Other First
peoples have made major efforts
Nations sought to repatriate totem
to maintain their cultural traditions
poles that have been taken away
in the face of assimilationist poli-
by non-Aboriginals as collector
cies. Following the repeal of dis-
items or “curiosities,” as well as
criminatory legislation in 1951,
poles previously sold to Indian
a new generation of artists began
agents and museum collectors.
to learn and promote the artistry
In the early 1990s, the Haisla
of totem pole carving as a form
people of the Kitimat area in B.C.
of cultural revitalization. Famous
began the process of repatriat-
totem pole carvers include Henry
ing a mortuary pole that had been
Hunt (Kwakwaka’wakw), Mungo
taken away from their community
Martin (Kwakwaka’wakw), Mar-
in 1929. The pole had been taken
tin’s grandson Doug Cranmer
without consent by an Indian Agent
(Kwakwaka’wakw), Ellen Neel
who sold it to a Swedish museum.
(Kwakwaka’wakw) and Bill Reid
Despite the passage of nearly 80
(Haida), who all have works exhib-
years, the Haisla persevered and
ited at the Museum of Anthropology succeeded in their quest to repatriat UBC and some at the Royal B.C. ate the G’psgolox Pole. 19
THE Nature Of Totemism Totemism is a complex of varied ideas and ways of behaviour based on a worldview drawn from nature. There are ideological, mystical, emotional, reverential, and genealogical relationships of social groups or specific persons with animals or natural objects, the so-called totems. It is necessary to differentiate between group and individual totemism. These forms share some basic characteristics, but they occur with different emphases and in different specific forms. For instance, people generally view the totem as a companion, relative, protector, progenitor, or helper, ascribe to it superhuman powers and abilities, and offer it some combination of respect, veneration, awe, and fear. Most cultures use special names and emblems to refer to the totem, and those it sponsors engage in partial identification with the totem or symbolic assimilation to it. There is usually a prohibition or taboo against killing, eating, or touching the totem.
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Group totemism Although totems are often the focus of ritual behaviour, it is generally agreed that totemism is not a religion. Totemism can certainly include religious elements in varying degrees, just as it can appear conjoined with magic. Totemism is frequently mixed with different kinds of other beliefs, such as ancestor worship, ideas of the soul, or animism. Such mixtures have historically made the understanding of particular totemistic forms difficult. Social or collective totemism is the most widely disseminated form of this belief system. It typically includes one or more of several features, such as the mystic association of animal and plant species, natural phenomena, or created objects with unilineally related groups (lineages, clans, tribes, moieties, phratries) or with local groups and families; the hereditary transmission of the totems (patrilineal or matrilineal); group and personal names that are based either directly or indirectly on the totem; the use of totemistic emblems and symbols; taboos and prohibitions that may apply to the species itself or can be limited to parts of animals and plants (partial taboos instead of partial totems); and a connection with a large number of animals and natural objects (multiplex totems) within which a distinction can be made between principal totems and subsidiary ones (linked totems).
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Group totems are generally associated or coordinated on the basis of analogies or on the basis of myth or ritual. Just why particular animals or natural things— which sometimes possess no economic worth for the communities concerned—were originally selected as totems is often based on eventful and decisive moments in a people’s past. Folk traditions regarding the nature of totems and the origin of the societies in question are informative, especially with regard to the group’s cultural presuppositions. For example, a group that holds that it is derived directly or indirectly from a given totem may have a tradition in which its progenitor was an animal or plant that could also appear as a human being. In such belief systems, groups of people and species of animals and plants can thus have progenitors in common. In other cases, there are traditions that the human progenitor of a kin group had certain favourable or unfavourable experiences with an animal or natural object and then ordered that his descendants respect the whole species of that animal.
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Group totemism was traditionally common among peoples in Africa, India, Oceania (especially in Melanesia), North America, and parts of South America. These peoples include, among others, the Australian Aborigines, the African Pygmies, and various Native American peoples—most notably the Northwest Coast Indians (predominantly fishermen), California Indians, and Northeast Indians. Moreover, group totemism is represented in a distinctive form among the Ugrians and west Siberians (hunters and fishermen who also breed reindeer) as well as among tribes of herdsmen in north and Central Asia.
Washington State Jamestown Jaynes Gallery
Individual Totemism Individual totemism is expressed in an intimate relation-
From the Spanish form of the Aztec word naualli, “some-
ship of friendship and protection between a person and a
thing hidden or veiled”—which means that a kind of
particular animal or a natural object (sometimes between
simultaneous existence is assumed between an animal or a
a person and a species of animal); the natural object can
natural object and a person; i.e., a mutual, close bond of
grant special power to its owner. Frequently connected
life and fate exists in such a way that in case of the injury,
with individual totemism are definite ideas about the hu-
sickness, or death of one partner, the same fate would
man soul (or souls) and conceptions derived from them,
befall the other member of the relationship. Consequently,
such as the idea of an alter ego and nagualism
such totems became most strongly tabooed; above all, they were connected with family or group leaders, chiefs, medicine men, shamans, and other socially significant persons. Studies of shamanism indicate that individual totemism may have predated group totemism, as a group’s protective spirits were sometimes derived from the totems of specific individuals. To some extent, there also exists a tendency to pass on an individual totem as hereditary or to make taboo the entire species of animal to which the individual totem belongs. Individual totemism is widely disseminated. It is found not only among tribes of hunters and harvesters but also among farmers and herdsmen. Individual totemism is especially emphasized among the Australian Aborigines and the American Indians.
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Totem Pole Craftsman David Boxley is a Tsimshian carver from Metlakatla, Alaska. David’s inspiration comes from his ancestors of the Tsimshian Tribe from Northern British Columbia and Southeast Alaska. David has dedicated over 40 years of his life to the revitalization and rebirth of Tsimshian arts and culture. David not only wants to be the best artist he can be, but he wants to inspire and influence the continuation of this beautiful art form and cultural practices. David has received three important Sm’algyax names in his lifetime. Names are either passed through family lines or to mark important life passages or accomplish-
Nuketsismaask, Means “Works with the Cedarbark”,
ments. It is the responsibility of each person to live a
given to me in 1987 by my Grandfather
good life to make the name honorable and strong, so
Ksgooga Yaawk, Means “First to Potlatch”, given to me
that when it is time to pass the name on, the name is
in 1982 by Alfred Eaton
good. David takes pride for each of his names and
Niis Bupts’aan, Means “Grandfather of Totem Poles,
works everyday to make his names good.
Given to me by Laxskiig (Eagle Clan)
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David Boxley Studio
Born in 1952, David was raised by his grandparents. From them he learned many Tsimshian traditions including the language, Sm’algyax. After high school he attended Seattle Pacific University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1974. He became a teacher and basketball coach to Junior and Senior high students in Alaska and Washington. While teaching in Metlakatla in 1980 he began devoting considerable time to the study of traditional Tsimshian carving. Through researching ethnographic material and carvings from museum collections, David has learned the traditional carving methods of his grandfather’s people.
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“It is so important that we as Native people hold on to and be proud of the beautiful culture we come from and more importantly, we are responsible to pass it on to the next generation- It belongs to all of us.”
David has achieved national recognition as an Alaskan Tsimishian master artist for his design and carving accomplishments showcasing and demonstrating worldwide. David has brought traditions of his ancestors to life carving 80 Totem Poles from 5’ up to 40’ located throughout the world. David with his son David R. Boxley also created the largest carved and painted House Front in modern times, located in Juneau, Alaska. David’s career of work also includes countless Panels, Bentwood Boxes, Masks, Rattles and Drums and many other traditional Tsimshian art pieces that can be found in public and private art collections around the world. David creates art to ensure the traditions are revived and used, whether used in a dance group or belonging to a collection, he shares how and why these art pieces are in important part of his people’s history.
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“when it shows up, it looks like a log. It’s a very daunt-
Nearly three months later, and after a 2783-mile jour-
ing feeling. It rolls in, and you think, ‘Oh my god.
ney to the National Museum of the American Indian,
What have I decided to do?’” David Boxley, Jr., an art-
the tree has been transformed into a monumental piece
ist and member of the Tsimshian tribe, is discussing the
of art. Boxley and his father, expert carver and artist
moment the 22-and-a-half-foot, 2500-pound old-growth
David Boxley, Sr., have labored over the pole for count-
red cedar giant from British Columbia was delivered
less hours, sketching a traditional design, carving it into
to his family’s home in Kingston, Washington in early
the wood with precision and chiseling the curves down
October. Carefully chiseling it, he looks up and says,
to an immaculate smoothness. From now through Janu-
“but then you start working on it, and you get this far,
ary 11, they will be completing the finishing touches in
and you realize it’ll be all right.”
front of the public, before their work is unveiled as a permanent addition to the museum’s Potomac Atrium on January 14. An official unveiling ceremony will include a performance by Git-Hoan, a traditional dance group led by Boxley, Sr. Boxley says that totem poles have traditionally served a number of roles for Pacific Native Tribes such as the Tsimishian. “Sometimes it’s a sign post—it says, this is who lives in this house,” he says. “Or sometimes it tells the stories of great chiefs, or memorializes them.” Contrary to popular belief, the poles are never viewed as religious idols, but are rather communicative devices, telling stories or imparting other information via art.
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“I have been fortunate to do what I love for over 40 years and I still become full of awe and excitement to learn, teach, speak, experience and live a culture that I love.�
David Boxley
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The work that the Boxleys created for the museum, The
Boxley, Sr., has completed a total of 70 totem poles of
Eagle and the Chief, tells a traditional Tsimshian story.
the course of his career, which decorate spaces as var-
“The legend is that there was a young man who was
ied as Disneyworld, the Microsoft corporate campus,
walking on the beach and heard a rustling in the bush-
and his home village. But when he got started, totem
es. He went over and saw an eagle caught in a fish
poles were nearly a lost art. The potlatch—a traditional
net, so he cut the net open and the eagle flew away,”
gift-giving festival—was banned by the U.S. govern-
says Boxley. The top figure on the pole, the supernatu-
ment in the late 19th century, and without this and
ral eagle, later came to deliver food to the young man’s
other customs, the creation of totem poles languished.
village in a time of famine. At the bottom is the young
But when Boxley, Sr.’s grandmother died in 1982, he
man, now a chief, clutching a piece of fish.
sought a way to honor her, and decided to put on a potlatch and carve his own pole. Over decades, he
The process of creating the pole from a piece of wood is long and arduous; Boxley, Sr. worked nearly nonstop for three months on this piece. “You start with a scaled drawing, then measure out the design and cut into it,”
has taught himself the art form by examining historical poles, often kept in museums, and eventually became one of the most well-respected totem pole artists in the U.S.
Boxley, Jr. says. “We use a chainsaw to take off excess wood, but none of the carving is done with it, that’s all
“For him, it’s always been linked to helping our culture
with traditional tools.” The Boxleys work with remark-
come back,” says Boxley, Jr. “It really means some-
able patience and precision, using tiny chisels to cut
thing, for a culture that got so close to going away,
into the pole like surgeons with scalpels. They slice
that we are still here, and we still do it. As much as
off ribbons of wood to reveal curves far smoother and
we do art because we like being artists, we do this art
more graceful than you would image possible in the
because it’s who we are.”
trunk of a tree.
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Native American Indian Commission