Customer Reviews

Looking at Totem Poles

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This is absolutely essential for anyone going to British Columbia or Alaska. It gives a brief description and explanation of almost all the important outdoor totem poles you'll come across, taking you through the poles figure by figure. I found it invaluable when in Victoria's Thunderbird Park and Vancouver's Stanley Park and Museum of Anthropology. A real gem you'll read over and glance through again once you're back home.

No frills, no gimmicks, just an excellent written and graphic profile of totem poles as a symbol of a North American people. Allows you to enter a community where beliefs in the earth, sky, oceans, mountains and animals continue to be spiritual.

Everyone knows what a totem pole is;but how little do we really know about them.Totem poles to the West Coast Indians are as indicative of an ancient culture as are the statutes of Easter Island or the standing stones of the Celtic Peoples.
This book does an excellent job of explaining what these poles are all about,why they were erected,what the figures inscribed on them meant and why it is important that they be protected and continue to be displayed.
This book includes details about 110 that exist and are easily accessible in British Columbia and Alaska.
"Each pole,shown in a beautiful detailed drawing,is accompanied by a text that points out the crests,figures and objects carved on it.Historical and cultural backgroubnd are given,legends are recounted and often the carver's comments or anecdotes enrich the pole's story.Photographs put some of the poles into context or show their carving and raising." It would have been a simple matter to just include a photograph of these poles,but one would never have been able to give the clarity that results from the drawings provided.The only minor criticism that I have with this book is that the poles were not really given their just due with color.This is certainly suggested with the rich colors on the cover photograph.
Going through this book brought back a memorable visit I had with Mongo Martin in the summer of 1955 or 56.A friend and I were strolling through Stanley Park about 2 or 3 a.m. when we came across a display of Totem Poles (see page 81).While admiring them,we noticed a long shed or building ,resembling the ones shown on pages 100 and 172.We noticed a light coming from a window,rapped on the door and were invited in by none other than Mungo Martin ,mentioned many times in this book.He talked to us for an hour or so as he continued to work on a massive pole.He told us how they would find poles back in the forest,often badly deteriorated,and that he would carve a replacement to be erected again.As he worked, he explained a lot about the history and significence of the poles and the figures carved on them.My friend who was from Quebec and I who came from Nova Scotia, mentioned that there were Indian native to our provinces,but we had never seen Totem Poles back east,and he explained why.It was a great visit and we both left with small carved canoe paddles that he made and signed for us.He would have been about 74 at the time,and passed away a few years later in 1962 at 62.
The book is profusely illustrated,though only in B&W,gives directions for the locations of all the poles,has an extensive Selected Reading list,188 pages and includes an very good Index.

I bought this book after a recent visit to Vancouver and viewing several totem poles in Stanley Park as well as at the UBC Museum of Anthropology. I found the opening chapters to provide a great deal of succinct information on the origin and art of totem poles. It also explained the iconography and the stories behind the legends depicted. While this book is not in depth in terms of the history of the First Nations peoples (which I don't think it is meant to be), it does provide a guide to understanding several prominent totem poles in the Northwest. I highly recommend this book to anyone visiting Vancouver's totem poles as it will help you interpret your photos after returning home.

This book is mainly an anthology of totem poles found in the world. As such, it is rather dry and starved for content. It describes various poles with accompanying photos but does not venture much into technology, artform, etc. I can't really recommend the book unless you are a traveller wishing to visit and view various totem poles found in the Pacific Northwest.