Sunday, January 15, 2017

Totem Poles

Duncan celebrates its origins on native territory by including totem poles carved by traditional carvers in its city panorama. Each carving shows the style of the individual artist but much of the subject matter and the way it is pictured comes from way back in history. Several totem poles may be set in groups and single totem poles can be seen in front of buildings or greenery or parking lots. That type of distribution shows on some old photographs of native villages (minus parking lots) as well.  Here are some of them beginning with a group photo.



The downtown area is the main showcase. Stories and short biographies of the carvers are displayed near the poles.

A few more:
Cedar Man Walking Out Of The Log. Carver: Gwe-la-e-gwe-la-gya-les (Richard Hunt)




Here is more of this carver's work:  https://www.coastalpeoples.com/index.php?mpage=artist&aid=248 The rest of the catalog also is well worth perusing. It shows additional incredible artwork. 

A couple of closeups:
 Family Pole (detail)

Owl Spirit (detail)

Most of Duncan's totem poles can be seen on my Flickr site, including the informative images, here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/projoma/albums/72157633265791356/page2/ and https://www.flickr.com/photos/projoma/albums/72157633265791356/page3