Totem Poles, Part 1

Ketchikan is famous for canneries, rain, and....totem poles!

Totem poles can be found all over southeast Alaska, but Ketchikan has one of the greatest concentrations of totem poles.

The name of totem poles comes from "totem," the symbol of a northwest North American native clan. When westerners first saw totem poles, they thought they were religious symbols and objects of worship. Mistakenly, early missionaries told their converts to burn their totem poles. Today, we understand the totem poles are more like billboards, signposts or tombstones; telling stories and honoring heritage.

The original carvers of totem poles lived in the are now known as Alaska's Inside Passage, members of the Tlingit, Haida and other clans.

How Totem Poles Are Made

Totem poles are generally carved from cedar or spruce, then painted in three colors: black, red, brown and blue-green. Traditionally, charcoal, cinnabar (mercury ore), iron oxide and copper oxide were mixed with the oil from salmon eggs to make the paint. These days, paint comes from the hardware store, but most carvers still use the traditional colors.

Symbols

Symbols on totem poles are primarily the symbols of the clans they belong to. At the highest level, everyone is either of the eagle or raven clan, with subclans such as beaver, fox, bear, and frog. The raven has a straight beak, while the eagle has a curved one. The human figure on top is the village watchman, who warned of approaching danger or a thief in the village.

If you see someone hanging upside down, they owe a debt to the village. Once the debtor paid up, the pole would be chopped down, taken into the forest to rot and a new one erected. Red ears and mouth signify a stingy person. What about the "low man?" The bottom figure was often the most important.

Types of Totem Poles

• Crest Totem Poles: Usually part of a house, they portray a family's ancestry and the emblems of its clan.
• Story-telling Totem Poles: The most common type, these are made for a wedding, to presere history or to ridicule bad debtors.
• Mortuary Totem Poles: These totem poles are made to honor the dead. Cremation ashes are often kept in a compartment in the back. A single figure represents the deceased person or their clan.