Miniature Totem Pole
Miniature totem pole: made of yellow cedar. Features eagle at top, bear at bottom, human form in the middle. There are long ears on eagle's head and bear has one paw showing claws (on the left side of the totem pole).
- Object: Miniature Totem Pole
- Artist: Joe Ives
- Circa: 1990s
- Dimensions: 23 x 2-1/2"
- Culture Area: Northwest Coast
- Cultural Group: Suquamish or Snohomish
- Cultural Context: People who had experienced transforming into animal (or spirits who had turned an animal into human) could acquire the right to display certain animal crest, then pass it on to their descendants. Totem poles could tell family history and specific rights the family has as a result of ancestral experiences. The art work shows all the invisible rights a family has; such as the rights to perform certain dances, sing certain songs and tell certain stories and claim specific ancestral history. These rights were carefully guarded.
- Donor: Mary Warren
- Catalog #: 98.005