Thitikorn Chansasitorn
tchansasitorn@zagmail.gonzaga.edu
"Haida Totem Pole"
Brown, Steven C., Native Visions: Evolution in Northwest Coast Art from the Eighteenth Through the Twentieth Century. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998, pg. 114
Totem poles convey the history and status of clans and matrilineal families. For Haida, all clans are members of one of the moieties (parts of one). Each moiety represents an animal, a human or supernatural being that is carved onto the pole. This totem pole was carved in the Pacific Northwest in the mid-1860s, when full-sized totem poles were no longer used. Because the Native population had been decimated by smallpox earlier in the decade (from European settlers), the continuance of full-scale traditions was not possible. In the late 19th century, Indigenous artists began creating smaller scale model totem poles out of wood and argillite, which could easily be marketed to Euro-Canadian clientele. People later found that this totem pole was carved by Charles Edenshaw of Haida Gwaii. Artists like Edenshaw played a key role in adapting Native art. This shift, while it allowed Indigenous traditions to persist in new forms, also illustrates the dynamics of cultural survival and change under colonial pressures.
(Sources: Haida Totem Pole)