Totem Poles of the Pacific Northwest Coast
$7.00
1 in stock
Description
Author: Malin, Edward (1923-)
Publisher: Timber Press
Pub Date: 1986
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Fair to Good. Binding tight. No marks, tears, bends or folds. Very light edge and corner wear.
Notes: “The totem pole of the Northwest Coast Indians was a large carved column raised by a lineage or clan for the purpose of commemorating an event, historical or mythological, within an entirely social (not religious) order. Some of the symbols might have totemic meaning. But the vast proportion of symbols relate to a group’s social affiliations and status….They represent the evolution of powerful forms of immense intrinsic complexity dealing with the fundamental forces which shape the human condition. They are intimately bound-up with numerous facets of life: kinship ties and associations; birth, maturity, and death; inheritance rights and privileges; class distinction and honors; personal values and motivations–an intricate web of social relationships and attitude with long standing traditions.” (From the Introduction) Anthropologists would love to change the name from “totem pole” to “carved column”, but where’s the mystery, the romance in that? Lots of drawings of poles and figures and their meanings and interpretations, how to raise a pole (think Amish barn-raising), how to carve a pole, and some pretty neat historical photographs of poles.
