Wood carving
The vast forested expanses of the Pacific coast have long been among the first natural resources of indigenous peoples and have enabled the development of this artistic practice. Wood was used to make all kinds of objects to facilitate everyday life such as housing, clothing and means of transportation by creating canoes carved from tree trunks. According to scientific research, totem poles appeared several millennia ago as a symbolic and decorative device. The preponderant place of art within Amerindian culture thus comes from this unique material for the creation of artistic sculptures such as transformation masks. These masks are carved in cedar wood (as for totems) and are decorated with feathers, branches, leaves, twigs and other natural elements. They are animal-shaped and are often worn during traditional dances and ceremonies. Many artists have emerged from this cultural movement in their own right, and many of these totem poles have been preserved in museums but also exhibited in reconstructed traditional parks and villages. This cedar wood is indeed recognized and chosen for its resistance, malleability and longevity. A "totem pole" has a lifespan of approximately 60 years. Ceremonies were organized when the trees were cut down to honour these beings considered sacred by the Aboriginal people. Wood carving originated in British Columbia and spread to southern Alaska.
Totem poles and their meanings
Also called "Totem Poles", the etymology of this word coming from the Ojibwa native language meaning "kinship, clan", these works are a true specificity of the First Nations of the Pacific Northwest and particularly of the Haida Gwaii Archipelago where it all began. These large monumental structures that can reach up to 20 metres in height have no religious significance, contrary to popular belief, but rather identity. Strongly attached to their values, the clans represented their family, their chief and their characteristics as a sign of strength and pride. Totem poles are the sacred spirits of humans, ancestors and protectors of the clan, and they bear witness to the persistence of Haida culture and its tribal rites. Some poles were used to welcome people at the entrance to villages, while others were used to commemorate ancestors and to recount past events and events. These are large wooden sculptures that were once used as an address for each house but also indicated who lived there thanks to the various emblems. The totem poles serve as accounts of important events and legends for each tribe, and thus each totem pole is representative of a family, a clan or a region. Each ethnic group uses its own emblems and carving techniques, and each emblem often erected at the top of the totem pole represents the chief of the tribe, while his wife's emblem is usually located at the bottom. There are 8 main emblems on these totem poles: the eagle, the crow, the thunderbird, the bear, the beaver, the wolf, the killer whale and the frog, but also human and supernatural figures could decorate these totems. For the First Nations, these large totem poles were used to show their membership in a clan, to demonstrate the power of their tribe and to communicate their beliefs. When an important chief died, it was customary to honour him or her by making a totem pole with his or her image on it and placing the ashes of the deceased on it. Another symbolism of these totems was to ridicule a person for incivility or betrayal by giving them a totem of shame. Important First Nations events such as weddings, deaths and the inauguration of totem poles were hosted by traditional celebrations called Potlatch.
The rebirth of Haida art at the end of the 20th century
is a symbolic place where totem poles originated. Thousands of Aboriginals inhabited this territory and lived in harmony with nature before seeing their population decrease considerably, by about 95%, because of epidemics such as smallpox brought by explorers. In addition, their traditional practices such as ceremonies were banned during the 19th century. These circumstances forced them to abandon some of their ancestral traditions and to be locked up in reserves around Skidegate and Masset. In recent decades, however, the Haida people have risen from the ashes, and their totem poles have been resurfacing on the horizon of the islands. The community's cultural and natural heritage has regained its prestige and Haida art is now being passed on to younger generations in an effort to preserve it. As proof, in 2000, the Nisga'a people were able to negotiate the first treaty between a First Nation (Aboriginal) in the province and the government (provincial and federal), which gave them control over 1,930 km2 , or nearly 1/10th of their ancestral territory. Unfortunately, many totem poles were displaced and stolen during colonization, resulting in their presence around the world. The archipelago is trying at all costs to repatriate as many of them as possible to their home territory. Among the most renowned artists and ambassadors of a rich cultural heritage that has come out of oblivion, Bill Reid, born in 1920 and deceased in 1998, is a sculptor whose fame is as much local as it is international. This Amerindian artist and intellectual worked to safeguard and transmit ancestral artistic techniques and to communicate his passion for Amerindian art. His creations, of timeless beauty, have travelled the world (including the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C.). Jewellery, sculptures, fabrics: Bill Reid knew how to use all media to promote Haida heritage. The Bill Reid Gallery and the Vancouver Art Gallery in downtown Vancouver showcase many works of Northwest Coast Aboriginal art. Other carvers including Henry Hunt, Mungo Martin, Doug Cranmer and Ellen Neel of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nation have invested much of their lives in preserving their ancestral culture. Each of them is on display at theVancouverMuseum of Anthropology in theGreat Hall of the Great Totem Pole and at the Royal B.C. Museum in Victoria.Native American Sculpture in the Pacific Northwest Today
More and more highlighted and protected, this art is passed on in parks and museums. Totems are omnipresent and are an integral part of the decor. You will be able to discover them as soon as you arrive at the Vancouver airport, but also at Stanley Park where 9 totems rest at Brockton Point, at the Museum of Anthropology, in the north of the city at the Capilano Suspension Bridge. There are also totems at White Rock Beach or on the Sunshine Coast, at Sechelt. In Victoria, you can admire the totem poles and the longhouse of the Kwakwaka'wakw sculptor and artist Mungo Martin (1879-1962) at Beacon Hill Park or Thunderbird Park, and older totem poles at the nearby Royal BC Museum. Nearby, the town of Duncan is nicknamed the "City of Totems" because of the more than 80 poles that adorn the streets in and around its downtown area. Further north, the small island ofAlert Bay is famous for its 'Namgis (Kwakwaka'wakw) totem poles where this community still lives. Ceremonies and totem poles continue to be created. Their current symbolism is more focused on political issues and denouncing environmental problems on the principle of the "Shame Pole". The Sitka National Historic Park in Alaska also has many totem poles of different styles, as well as the Totem Heritage Center, which groups together old totem poles in their original state. Many artists have since taken over, such as Robert Davidson and Jim Hart, sculptor of the "Reconciliation Pole" in commemoration of the residential schools of the 19th century, both present on the campus of UBC.
Sculpture techniques from the beginnings to the present day
Originally, the First Nations had to adapt their sculptures to their own tools created from purely natural elements (bones, shells, rocks, etc.). Initially, the tree trunk was chosen for its size according to the type of sculpture envisaged. The trunk was then cleaned and polished. Then, a hole had to be dug in one of the ends of the trunk so that it could dry. The creation of a totem pole could take several years and the process was long and required great precision. The totem pole was first thought out in its design, the line was drawn on the trunk. Cutting required the use of several tools, with special techniques for each one. Painting played an important role in the finishing of these totems, which in the past were created with natural elements. Shells were used for the white, salmon eggs and berries for the red, rock for the brown and certain plants for the black.
Nowadays, the manufacture of totem poles is simplified by high-performance machines and tools such as saws, chainsaws, axes and cutters, but traditional methods are still used. Numerous workshops in the Vancouver area are dedicated to carving Totem Pole and the passion of local carvers continues to perpetuate this art form that has been passed down throughout the region. You can see carvers at work at the Alaska Indian Arts workshop.
