Totel Poles: An Illustrated Guide by Marjorie M. Halper

The massive wood carvings unique to the Native peoples of the Northwest Coast arouse a sense of wonder in all who seem them. This guide helps the reader to understand and enjoy the form and meaning of totem poles and other large works of wood sculpture. The author describes the origin and place of totem poles in Native culture - as ancestral emblems, as expressions of wealth and power, as ceremonial objects, as mythological symbols, and as magnificent artistic works of the people of the Pacific Northwest. She also suggests ways to interpret the motifs and symbols carved on the poles and show how one can recognize the special features that reveal not only the skill of the carver but also his or her own tribal origin. Marjorie M. Halpin is curator of enthnology at the Museum of Anthropology and is a member of the anthropology department at the Unversity of British Columbia. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1981.

Size: 58p

Style: paperback