Totem Poles: Sacred Tribes In The Pacific Northwest

In the Eastern Woodlands, the native Iroquoian people populated the area, who set fires twice a year to clear away underbrush to allow an easier hunting season. In addition, they had no universal style of government, with many organized into chiefdoms. Near The Great Lakes, there were several different types of natives collectively called the Anishinaabe. Many Europeans found that the Anishinaabe had a vast social landscape, with the peoples of the Ottawas, Ojibwas, and Potawatomis. Additionally, these people would use canoes to travel across the Great Lakes. Towards the west in the Great Plains, the Comanches were formidable people of the vast territory. They rode on horseback to dominate their enemies, and would mainly hunt Bison.

The history of the Native Americans after the arrival of the Europeans is a history of wars, treaties and agreements, and broken treaties and broken agreements. As late as 1994 the governing bodies of tribal communities have signed treaties and agreements with the U.S. (Niles, 1996). As recently as 1999 the U.S. Supreme Court almost overturned treaty rights of the Chippewa Indians of Minnesota.

A totem pole is a tall log carved mainly by the indigenous people of Alaska and British Columbia. The poles tell stories that have been passed down from generation to generation as legends and myths. However, that is not the only type of totem pole, there are totems that tell the carver’s history, their family’s history and some are even used to honor the dead. Additionally, some totem poles were made to show respect to an important tribal member. Totem poles feature animals and symbols, chosen by the carver to represent themselves, another person, or an event. I have chosen to construct a totem pole to represent my qualities and personality. My totem pole will feature a deer, a fox, a monkey, and a cat.

The Coast Salish people are people from Nations and Tribes whose traditional roots are found along the west coast of British Columbia and Washington State. Actually, the Coast Salish region expands from the northern Vancouver Island and Lower Mainland regions to western part of the Washington State. Consequently, most of the Coast Salish First Nations Groups are found in British Columbia and Washington State (“Coast Salish Fast Facts”, p.1). While Coast Salish is a term that was developed by linguists to describe one branch of the huge Salishan language family, it comprises distinct languages. There have been numerous efforts within First Nations communities to keep the distinct Coast Salish languages alive. While there are several distinct Coast Salish languages, they have similar cultures and traditions that make them a distinct people in British Columbia.

The northern tribes used bones and deer antlers to make knives, scrapers, awls, fishing tools, whistles, and pendants. The first tribes denpended on agriculture were those that lived on the Atlantic Costal Plain. They learned how to make pottery and cloth. The cloth was woven with thread made from soft layers of splint baskets. They made musical instruments like pipers, rattles, drums, nd they were played during ruitals and ceremonies dances. They built two types of houses, long houses, and wigwams. The first type was formed by bending poles into a cone or dome shape and by tying the poles together with vines. The frame was covered with woven mats, bark, or hide . These people grew corn, squash, beans, pumpkins, and tobacco.

The Wampanoag' is a Native American individuals in North America. They were a free alliance comprised of a few tribes. Numerous Wampanoag individuals today are selected in two governmentally perceived tribes, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, or four state-perceived tribes in Massachusetts. In the start of the seventeenth century, at the season of first contact with the English, the Wampanoag lived in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, a domain that incorporated present-day Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket islands. Their populace numbered in the thousands because of the extravagance of nature and their development of corn, beans and squash. Three thousand Wampanoag lived on Martha's Vineyard alone.

The Timbisha are a Native American tribe that is federally recognized as the Death Valley Timbisha Shoshone Band of California. Located in Death Valley National Park, which neighbors the California−Nevada border, their headquarters are centered in Furnace Creek. Pauline Esteves, Maddy Esteves, and Joe Kennedy are the most prominent members of the tribe. In 2004, Joe Kennedy was elected tribal chairman and is currently a spokesperson for the tribe. Pauline Esteves, tribal elder and chairperson, is a negotiator and an internationally recognized activist who wants to pass on tribal traditions to the younger generations so that the Timbisha traditions, language, and culture does not die out (Jarvis). Maddy Esteves, Pauline’s

Culture, as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is stated as “The integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief and behavior that dpends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations. The customary beliefs, social forms and material traits of a racial, religious or social group. The set shared attitudes, values, goals and practices that characterizes an institution or organization. The set of values, conventions or social practices associated with a particular field, activity or societal characteristic.” Of these four definitions, I shall be focusing on the second one to discuss what makes up the culture of American Indians.The culture of the various tribes that made up the Native Americans is one of close knit families, highlyspiritual peoples and living together as one with the land they lived on. They believed in spirits, worshiping and honoring them. Some settled into single locations while others were nomadic, but all had a focus on working with the land around them. Because there are so many varying tribes that make up Native

Human beings, desire to maintain a connection with the past is achieved through the languages spoken, the various cultures practiced, and sadly through acquiring of cultural property by the means of grave robbing. Native Americans wanted justice for these past mistreatments and control over their history. According to Chip Colwell, campaigning, repatriation of indigenous artifacts began in the 1960s by indigenous activism. Finally, on November 16, 1990, The United States Government passed The Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act. NAGPRA summarizes that museums must conduct an inventory of all native American cultural artifacts and remains. (Native) In addition, Museums send the inventories to federally recognized tribes, in

The Kwakiutl Indian tribe existed before the discovery of North America by the European culture and inhabited the coast of the Pacific Northwest of the United States and British Columbia in Canada. The tribe is rich in tradition and culture and has remained steadfast in their beliefs, history, teachings and artisan skills which have been passed down generation to generation. The artisans in the Kwakiutl tribe mastered the art of creating special ceremonial masks that are not only beautiful and aesthetically interesting to the eye, but also mechanically intriguing in which the masks serve a specific purpose to a theme during different ceremonies that are conducted by tribal specialists during certain times throughout the year.

The Eastern Woodland Indians was an Indian tribe that was located around the stretch from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean. Usually the Woodland Indians had settled west from the Atlantic. The Eastern Woodland tribe also settled from Canada in the North all the way to The Gulf of Mexico in the South. The Indians of The Eastern Woodlands tribe had spoke several different languages and dialects. According to www.indians.org, “Additionally, there were many groups such as the Cayuga, Mohawk, Onondaga, and Seneca tribes”. Many different parts of the Eastern Woodlands economy encouraged them to become a civilization such as the habitat of the Eastern Woodlands, the shelter, the food, and the culture of the Eastern Woodlands Indians.

Native American, or American Indians, have a rich culture comprised of struggle, strife and success. For this paper, i will discuss the Native American Culture and it's history.

As I mentioned above, everything began with Christopher Columbus discovering America in 1492. History is non-fiction, and perhaps the most concrete example of this non-fiction is the story of the beginning of the Indians. Native American mythology contains may different types of character including heroes, tricksters, and more. These characters can have both good and bad qualities, and fall into many categories. For example, creator gods usually restore order, but in some stories can be destructive. Tricksters can even be considered the hero in some stories. (Myths Encyclopedia, 2007). Indian stories are born from experiences and beliefs. Ross also states that “Native American societies are based on the concept of interdependence. Interdependence

The word totem derives from the Algonquian word “odoodem” meaning kinship group. You can see how that represents a totem pole well because a ceremony for a new pole is watched by hundreds of tribe members. More than just beautiful carvings, totem poles represent myths, legends, and honourable stories of families or tribes.

The configuration must meet certain models to be valuable. Case in point, a sweeping needs to keep an individual warm, as well as it must be to some degree light and simple to clean. Imaginative embellishments become possibly the most important factor just when those essential configuration necessities are met. This likewise applies to architecture.The command hierarchy is a sort of work is found all through the Pacific Northwest, both in the United States and in Canada. Since totems were built of common materials, kept outside, and in a mild domain not very many survive more than one hundred years. There are not very many cases of totems from before 1900.Totems are intriguing in light of the fact that they differ so incredibly in their motivation. Totems were utilized as guideposts as a part of the thick woodlands of the Pacific Northwest. They were additionally used to assign a grave, they tell stories, remember mesh fights. Notwithstanding they are not utilized as holy places, and they were never worshipped.Artistic outline in connection to the model is