Totem poles are monumental sculptures carved from trees by a number of cultures along the Pacific northwest coast of North America. The word 'totem' is derived from the Ojibwe word odoodem, meaning 'his totem, his kinship group.'
The poles usually display mythological images, usually animal spirits, whose significance is their association with the lineage. Each figure represents a type of family crest.
Some poles relate a family legend in the form of pictographs. Totem Poles are erected to identify the owner of a house or other property, welcome visitors, indicate a portal or passageway, mark a gravesite, and even to ridicule an important person who failed in some way.
(via plep)
1 comment(s):
Hey cool Gerard. Cathedral grove is about an hour's drive from my house! :)
MB
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