Totem pole

This is an authentic model of a traditional totem pole, carved in a stone called black slate or black argillite. This stone is found only on one place, a quarry on Queen Charlotte islands in northern British Columbia. The quarry is owned by the Haida nation, who has a monopoly on using it.

Carving small models of totem poles or other pieces of art in wood or stone dates back to the 19th century, when the first nations people started to make and trade them as souvenirs. They where also used as prototypes for real totem poles, or to document old poles that were taken down in compliance with the demand of missionaries, who mistook them as idols for worshipping.

The function of totem poles in the indigenous communities is often misunderstood. They are not religious artifacts, although a properly made and raised totem pole is considered to have certain spiritual qualities. They fill different functions: as heraldic symbols for the family who commission them, or as memorials of important events in the society, or as illustrations to the old sagas of the tribes. Only members of the first nations are accepted as genuine totem carvers, and they have to apprentice with a master carver until they reach mastership.

The tradition of carving is ancient among the first nations people, but carving of freestanding totem poles only dates back to the sixteenth century. It was spread among the people of coastal British Columbia together wit European carving tools. The figures of the poles are collected from the myths and legends of the first nations people. It is animals, and daemons, and also human figures. Carvings made for trade as souvenirs also take up ideas from the white mans traditions. This pole depicts three very traditional totem figures: from top to down a raven, an orca (kille whale) and a beaver.