Native American IndiansTotem Poles Essay Research Paper

Native American Indians: Totem Poles Essay, Research Paper

The Haida, intending The People, one time were numbered at over 10,000. They

occupied the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Colombia. Their Numberss were legion

and their life was comfortable. In 1774 there was the first European contact ( Gunn ) and

the Haida, unwittingly, allow the king of beasts out of its coop, they let white adult male enter their

district. The Europeans brought trade, but they besides brought colonisation. A word the

Indians did non cognize would do them such horror. Smallpox and many other epidemics

ravaged the Haida kin and decimated their population to 6,500 ( Gunn ) . The Haida has

gotten to every bit low as 588 kin members ( Gunn ) , but are now easy working their manner up.

The Haida, along with six other folks that make up the Northwest Coast Pacific cultural

unit, are known as the? Totem Pole Carving Peoples? ( Gunn ) .

Totem poles are what we would mention to as monumental art. This definition gives

no justness for the astonishing beauty, spiritualty, significance, and importance of the totem

pole to the Haida. There were different grounds for planing and raising totem poles.

The chief types of poles were, house stations, house frontal poles, memorial poles, mortuary

poles, grave markers, and welcome figures. The house posts supported the chief beams of

a house. The house frontal poles were in the forepart of the house normally portion of the gap

to the house. The memorial poles were at that place in award of a individual who had died and were

normally erected by the replacement of his name ( Halpin ) . The mortuary poles contained the

remains of the dead which were normally in sedate boxes incorporated into the pole. Sculpt

markers were carvings placed where people were buried and normally represented the

individual in some manner, by household crest or by stating a narrative. And the welcome figures were

poles placed on the beach welcoming geting invitees that would come by canoe. You can

conceive of what the small town looked like with all of these big artistic poles everyplace. The

Europeans referred to them as? grotesque? ( Keithahn ) when they foremost encountered them.

Now that people are more educated about the totem poles they are considered an art signifier

and are really cherished points that should be preserved and carried on for future coevalss

to come and see. Unfortunately the longest permanent totem pole was merely 100 old ages and

many lasted less than 75 ( Halpin ) . All the totem poles that are in their original topographic points are

far beyond fix, lying on the land decomposing off, but many have been saved and put in

museums to wonder at. Salvaging these poles helps maintain a portion of native American heritage

alive. Each totem pole is alone in its ain manner and each has a narrative of its ain to state.

The narratives are peculiar to the Haida folk because of the significance they hold behind them.

Many narratives were told to learn lessons, many were told for myths and fables and others

were told from the imaginativeness to divert a crowd. Many of the same characters are used

in different narratives, ever maintaining their same character in the secret plan.

Before the Haida had contact with the Europeans, there was non? modern? tools to

carve these poles with. The Haida had to do their tools through a long procedure and

one time they were made they were cherished and used frequently for all types of work. The tools

themselves were a piece of art. Native Americans had to go one with their art, they

had to spiritually accept it and esteem it. When carving a totem pole you must travel to the

cedar tree and inquire for its bole to carve. Haida, and all other Native Americans, regard

the land and every life thing around them. They merely take what they need and ne’er

throw anything off, everything can be utile in some manner or another. When they are

carving they are a portion of their work, it speaks to them and steer them in their trade.

All totem poles have a narrative, or a significance. Haida poles have their ain unique

expression and can be recognized by their? pure lines and punctilious attending to basic design

and symbolic convention? ( Gunn ) . Their totem poles normally have a type of household or

tribal crest along with a fabulous narrative that has been carefully crafted into the big

columnar sculpture. Some totem poles are every bit high as 24 metres high, but are on

norm between three and 18 metres high. They are carved on the land and

when finished are erected to their tremendous hight.

To read a Haida totem pole you must understand the symbols and many fables

and myths of the folk itself. There are so many different symbols that when set together

in the right order state a narrative that is understood by all in the Haida folk. The figures on

the totem poles are non ever those of

good known mundane life. There are normal

animate beings that everyone knows about and so there are many? animals? assorted in that

stand for the? originative imaginativeness? s of the Haida narrators who have combined the

fearful elements of the existent universe with the panics of the unknown supernatural universe to

green goods atrocious monsters of facet. These same monsters, translated into masks and

totemic figures by the Carvers are every bit a mixture of the existent and the? unreal? ? ( Smyly ) .

One of the better known animals is the? sea-grizzly, ? which became a crest of the Raven

kin and was widely used. This animal was non ever depicted in the same signifier, some

were of a giants organic structure and a bears caput, sometimes they were reversed, and sometimes

both organic structures shared a individual caput. This crest was a combination of two really unsafe

animals, the slayer giant and the silvertip bear ( Smyly ) .

Paint on totem poles was used really meagerly. Colorss were hard to bring forth

because the Haida had to utilize their natural resources to acquire coloured pigments. Therefore

the carving was what emphasized the sculpture with its careful channels and etchings. The

colour on totem poles became more outstanding when the Haida started merchandising with the

Europeans. They now had Fe tools and existent pigments that made their work much quicker.

Trading with the Europeans accelerated the devising of totem poles. The clip procedure was

non as large of a factor, but the accomplishment and forbearance was still of great value to the folk

( Haplan ) .

The Haida were the lone folk known for its argillite totem poles. ? Argillite is a

scarce slate-like rock found at Slatechuck Mountain on Graham Island of the Queen

Charlotte group. The prey is the sole belongings of the Skidegate folk and other

Haida Carvers need permission to get the stone. ? The argillite is a dull Grey when it is

carved, but is polished to a all right black shininess after the carving is finished. The radiance of the

polished argillite truly enhances its beauty. The argillite totem poles are non really large and

normally are reproduction of a larger cedar version. Most can be held in your manus or picked up.

Argillite will last everlastingly while the cedar poles are really difficult to continue, this makes them

valuable to the Haida because it will assist maintain their traditions alive.

The Haida totem poles are merely a little portion of many important graphicss in the

native American faith. They are every bit of import as any type of graphics in the civilization and

are respected by all native Americans. Native Americans is a really wide term, there are

many different folks and kins that originated in America and non all of them got along.

There were wars, differences, exogamies, potlaches, and ceremonials shared by all of

them. I am concentrating on the Haida because they have the rare argillite totem pole

figures every bit good as the most common cedar poles. Each folk has their ain certain subject to

the totem poles, but they besides normally portion a similar significance.

No affair how hard the remainder of the universe tries to do Native Americans

disappear they will ever stay. The Native Americans have been looked at as

barbarian and have been shamed for many old ages. We have tried our best to destruct their

civilization and fortuitously it is non working. Many regulations and ordinances are put on the Native

Americans. They can merely execute a certain sum of rites, ain certain lands, and

repossess little sums of their heritage from museums with much paper work. It is

disgusting to see how slaughtered they have been both metaphorically and physically. If

their work, ceremonial art, basketry, and everything else used in their day-to-day lives is so rare

and cherished plenty to be displayed in museums and sold for outrageously high monetary values

so why are the Native Americans shunned? We marvel at their art, narratives, myths and

fables, small childs fantasize about them, and we can larn so much about the land and life

from them. Peoples understand this yet our authorities still shys off from giving them

the freedom they purportedly already hold. How can it be called freedom when they have

so many excess regulations and ordinances, specially made for them? Peoples treat them

otherwise and frequently unjustly, yet they are the original Americans. Native Americans

should be respected and looked upon for counsel and cognition. They are the original

jurisprudence of this land we call America and somehow they are pushed around and forced to

alter their manner of life because the Europeans decided to colonise. Peoples can non

alteration what has happened in the past, but we can do the most of the hereafter.

Knowledge is everything and the more people understand about the Native Americans the

more they can come to accept them.