Totem Pole North West Canada Landmarks Celebration of Native Art and Culture #1 is a mixed media by Navin Joshi which was uploaded on May 7th, 2015.
Totem Pole North West Canada Landmarks Celebration of Native Art and Culture #1
Totem Pole North West Canada Landmarks Celebration of Native Art and Culture... more
by Navin Joshi
Title
Totem Pole North West Canada Landmarks Celebration of Native Art and Culture #1
Artist
Navin Joshi
Medium
Mixed Media - Signature Graphic Abstracts And Background Textures
Description
Totem Pole North West Canada Landmarks Celebration of Native Art and Culture
What are totem poles?
Totem poles are monuments created by First Nations of the Pacific Northwest to represent and commemorate ancestry, histories, people, or events. Totem poles are typically created out of red cedar, a malleable wood relatively abundant in the Pacific Northwest, and would be erected to be visible within a community.
Most totem poles display beings, or crest animals, marking a family�s lineage and validating the powerful rights and privileges that the family held. Totem poles would not necessarily tell a story so much as it would serve to document stories and histories familiar to community members or particular family or clan members.
A totem pole typically features symbolic and stylized human, animal, and supernatural forms.1 Totem poles are primarily visual representations of kinship, depicting family crests and clan membership. For example, some Kwakwaka'wakw families of northern Vancouver Island belonging to the Thunderbird Clan will feature a Thunderbird crest and familial legends on their poles. Other common crests among coastal First Nations include the wolf, eagle, grizzly bear, thunderbird, killer whale, frog, raven, and salmon.2 Wealthy and influential families may have more than one crest. Totem poles can also be created to honour a particular event or 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.
Pole types
Most totem poles stand between 3 to 18 metres tall, although some can reach over 20 metres in height.3 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 �shame poles� to ridicule neighbouring groups who had unpaid debts. Shame poles were more common in the nineteenth century, but today, some First Nations erect these poles as a form of protest against the loss of Aboriginal territory or for other political grievances. 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.4
The totem pole designs that most people recognize today were, for the most part, developed in the last 200 years.5 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.6 This disintegration is recognized as a natural part of a pole�s life cycle.
Carving a pole
Carving a totem pole requires not only artistic skill, but an intimate understanding of cultural histories and forest ecology. Most totem poles are made from Western red cedar, a rot-resistant tree that is straight-grained and easy to carve.7 Before a cedar tree is harvested for a totem pole, many coastal First Nations communities will perform a ceremony of gratitude and respect in honour of the tree. Several trees may be inspected before a particular tree is chosen for its beauty and character. According to Roy Henry Vickers, an artist of Tsimshian and Haida ancestry, �each tree is like a human being; it has its own personality and uniqueness.�8
Traditionally, totem pole carving was done by men, although today both men and women have become skilled carvers. Many totem pole carvers have honed their skills since childhood, typically from watching their fathers and uncles carve from cedar wood. After a tree is felled, the wood is debarked and shaped using implements such as adzes, axes, chisels, carving knives, and chainsaws. Other artists argue that technological innovation is an important part of cultural transformation and growth.9 Whatever their personal preference, artists use these tools to create the swirling, oval shapes common in coastal First Nations artwork, also known as �ovoid� design.10 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.11
read more about http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/culture/totem-poles.html
Totem pole - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totem_pole
Totem poles are monumental sculptures carved on poles, posts, or pillars with symbols or figures made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, ...
History - Meaning and purpose - Types - Totem poles outside of ...
Totem Poles - Indigenous Foundations
indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/culture/totem-poles.html
Totem poles are monuments created by First Nations of the Pacific Northwest to ..... 17 �Totem: The Return of the G'psgolox Pole- Film Description,� National Film ...
totem poles - About BC Archives
www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/timemach/galler07/.../totems.htm
The totem poles of the Northwest Coast First Nations are probably the most immediately recognizable artifact of the culture. The poles are carved from red cedar ...
Totem Pole | Definition of totem pole by Merriam-Webster
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/totem%20pole
a tall usually wooden pole that is carved and painted with symbols, figures, or masks which represent different Native American tribes. �used to describe ...
totem pole - definition of totem pole by The Free Dictionary
www.thefreedictionary.com/totem+pole
totem poles (center) and house posts (far left and far right) at Stanley Park. Vancouver, Canada. totem pole. n. 1. A post carved and painted with a series of ...
What Is a Totem Pole? | Wonderopolis
Uploaded
May 7th, 2015