A totem pole is a monumental carving, typically made from a single large cedar log, created by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. These carved columns are not religious idols or objects of worship. They function more like a family’s coat of arms, recording lineage, clan stories, significant events, and the rights and privileges of the families who commission them. Tall, multi-figure poles were first made by the Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian peoples in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, and the tradition has deep roots in their oral histories.
Who Creates Totem Poles
The tradition of carving tall totem poles originates with Indigenous nations along the northern Pacific Northwest Coast. The Haida, whose homeland includes the Queen Charlotte Islands (Haida Gwaii) in British Columbia and parts of Southeast Alaska, have oral histories indicating the practice is ancient among their people. The Tlingit and Tsimshian peoples of the same coastal region also have long carving traditions. Historic photographs from the late 1800s show entire “forests of totem poles” standing in front of houses in Haida villages.
Other coastal nations, including the Kwakwaka’wakw and Nuu-chah-nulth farther south, also developed their own pole-carving traditions over time. Each nation has distinct artistic styles and conventions. A knowledgeable viewer can often identify which nation or even which specific carver produced a pole based on its design elements.
What the Figures Represent
The animals and beings carved on a totem pole are clan crests. They represent specific family lineages and the stories of how those families came to claim particular animals as their symbols. These crests reflect the ancestors’ interactions with the beings depicted and serve as visual reminders of a family’s heritage and rights.
The Tlingit people are organized into two major social divisions called moieties: the Raven moiety and the Eagle moiety. The Haida follow a similar two-moiety system with the same animal names, though the two peoples are culturally distinct. The Tsimshian are organized into four moieties: Raven, Wolf, Eagle, and Killer Whale. Each moiety contains smaller clans identified by their own crest animals.
The animals carry specific symbolic weight. The Raven represents creation, transformation, knowledge, and the complexity of nature. The Eagle symbolizes focus, strength, peace, and leadership, and is considered to have the closest relationship with the Creator. It can also represent the balance between men and women, with its two wings symbolizing the two genders in harmony. The Wolf represents loyalty, strong family ties, communication, and intelligence. Clan animals like the Frog, Beaver, Salmon, Killer Whale, Bear, and Hummingbird each belong to specific moieties and carry their own associations depending on the nation.
A figure on a pole is not generic decoration. It is owned by a specific lineage, and displaying a crest you have no right to claim would be a serious social transgression.
Types of Totem Poles
Not all totem poles serve the same purpose. Several distinct types exist, each with a different function in community life:
- House posts are carved columns that stand inside a clan house, supporting the roof structure. Because they’re sheltered from weather, they tend to last longer than outdoor poles.
- Memorial poles are raised in honor of a deceased chief or important figure. Once a chief fulfilled the obligations surrounding the raising of a memorial pole, he was not required or even expected to repair it afterward.
- Mortuary poles are a specific type of freestanding exterior pole that held the remains of chiefs and other notable individuals, buried in boxes or cavities at the top of the pole.
- Heraldic or crest poles display the family lineage and clan affiliations of the house owner, standing in front of the dwelling as a public record of identity and status.
- Shame poles are raised to publicly call out someone who has wronged the community or failed to meet an obligation. These are among the rarest and most dramatic types.
The Pole-Raising Ceremony
A totem pole is not simply carved and then planted in the ground. The raising of a pole is the centerpiece of a potlatch, a word that translates roughly to “gift-giving ceremony.” Potlatches also accompany name-giving ceremonies, the opening of new clan houses, and rededications of existing ones. The pole raising is a major community event with deep social significance.
Preparing for a potlatch takes anywhere from one to five years. The clan hosting the event gathers enough food not only for themselves but for every guest attending. During the event, the hosting clan houses and feeds all of their guests, particularly their “opposite clans” (clans from the other moiety who are invited to witness and validate the proceedings). Guests and hosts share their clan songs, tell their stories, and bring out precious clan items. In Tlingit, these treasured objects are called at.óowu.
The potlatch reinforces the importance of oral and visual traditions. Every figure on the pole connects to a story, and the ceremony is the moment those stories are performed, witnessed, and confirmed by the community. Without the potlatch, the pole would lack its social legitimacy.
What “Low Man on the Totem Pole” Actually Means
The common English expression “low man on the totem pole,” meaning someone with the least status, is a misunderstanding of how the poles work. Totem poles do not follow a top-to-bottom hierarchy of importance. The placement of figures depends on the type of pole, the story being told, and the artistic decisions of the carver. On many poles, the bottom figure is the largest and most prominently visible to viewers at ground level, making it arguably the most important position. The phrase has no basis in the actual traditions of the peoples who carve these poles.
Cedar, Decay, and Cultural Philosophy
Totem poles are traditionally carved from Western red cedar, a wood chosen for its size, workability, and natural resistance to rot. Even so, the Pacific Northwest’s wet climate means that an outdoor pole typically lasts 60 to 80 years before it deteriorates significantly. Many Indigenous communities traditionally viewed this decay as natural and appropriate. A pole was expected to eventually return to the earth.
This perspective sometimes puts Indigenous communities at odds with museum conservation practices. Some institutions hollow out poles or treat them with preservatives to extend their lifespan. Others, respecting the cultural tradition, do not hollow the pole and simply accept the visual consequences of aging. The tension between preservation and cultural intent remains a live issue wherever totem poles are displayed in institutional settings.
Repatriation and Legal Protections
Many totem poles were removed from Indigenous villages during the late 1800s and early 1900s, ending up in museums across North America and Europe. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), a federal law passed in 1990, created a legal process for museums and federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items to their communities. These items include human remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.
That last category is particularly relevant to totem poles. An object of cultural patrimony is defined as something with ongoing historical, traditional, or cultural importance so central to a group that it cannot be given away or sold by any individual, even its caretaker. NAGPRA also authorizes federal grants to help both tribes and museums with the documentation and repatriation process. Violations carry criminal and civil penalties.
Repatriation efforts have returned poles to communities in Alaska and British Columbia, where some are re-erected in their original villages and others are housed in tribally controlled cultural centers. For the nations that carved them, these poles are not art objects or artifacts. They are records of identity, belonging to specific families whose stories they tell.