Where do totem poles come from?

While Totem Poles are thought by many to be a symbol of Native People culture generally, their production was limited to six tribes in British Columbia and southeastern Alaska. The tribes which carved Totem Poles were the Bella Coola, Haida, Kwakiutl, Tlingit, Tsimshian and West Coast. Pole carving flourished in the 19th century. The Poles told stories or commemorated historical events. The figures were not gods or demons, but rather were symbolic like the figures in European Heraldry.

Totem Poles were not worshipped, but the stories they told often inspired respect or veneration. Each tribe had its own distinctive style.

The Kwakiutls used high-relief carvings and carefully smoothed surfaces. Haida Poles can be recognized by their bold carvings and massive style. The Tsimshian and Bella Coola were noted for ornate carvings of supernatural beings, while the West Coast people carved human figures on their house posts. The full flowering of Totem Pole carving did not take place until European tools such as steel axes, adzes and curved knives became more and more easily available. Previously the carvers’ art was mainly seen in much smaller household crests, graveyard carvings, masks, staffs and charms.

Most Totem Poles were carved from red cedar using knives and adzes, and early Poles were painted using local materials. White was obtained from clay, yellow came from ochres, red from iron ore, blue from copper ore, and black from charcoal. Later Poles were colored using pigments and paints obtained by trading with the white settlers.