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For more on The Totem Pole
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Join Aldona Jonaitis
June 1, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
Burke Museum, with University Book Store
Seattle, WA
September 4 at 7 p.m.
Hearthside Books
Juneau, AK
For details on events or
The Totem Pole, please contact
Rachael Levay at (857) 756.8443 or remann@u.washington.edu
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"Writing a poem is like trying to describe a totemic column which passes
right through and beyond the world. We see it, but its existence is
elsewhere." -Stanley Diamond, Totems
The Northwest Coast totem
pole captivates the imagination. From the first descriptions of these
tall carved monuments, totem poles have become central icons of the
Northwest Coast region and symbols of its Native inhabitants. Although
many of those who gaze at these carvings assume that they are ancient
artifacts, the so-called totem pole is a relatively recent artistic
development, one that has become immensely important to Northwest Coast
people and has simultaneously gained a common place in popular culture
from fashion to the funny pages.
The Totem Pole reconstructs the
intercultural history of the art form in its myriad manifestations from
the eighteenth century to the present. Aldona Jonaitis and Aaron Glass
analyze the totem pole's continual transformation since Europeans first
arrived on the scene, investigate its various functions in different
contexts, and address the significant influence of colonialism on the
proliferation and distribution of carved poles. The authors also
describe their theories on the development of the art form: its spread
from the Northwest Coast to world's fairs and global theme parks; its
integration with the history of tourism and its transformation into a
signifier of place; the role of governments, museums, and
anthropologists in collecting and restoring poles; and the part that
these carvings have continuously played in Native struggles for control
of their cultures and their lands.
Short essays by scholars and
artists, including Robert Davidson, Bill Holm, Richard Hunt, Nathan
Jackson, Vickie Jensen, Andrea Laforet, Susan Point, Charlotte
Townsend-Gault, Lyle Wilson, and Robin Wright, provide specific case
studies of many of the topics discussed, directly illustrating the
various relationships that people have with the totem pole.
Aldona
Jonaitis is director emerita of the University of Alaska Museum of the
North and professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. An art
historian who has published widely on Native American art, she is the
author of Art of the Northwest Coast and Looking North: Art from the
University of Alaska Museum, among other titles.
Aaron Glass is
an assistant professor at the Bard Graduate Center in New York City,
where he teaches anthropology of art, museums, and material culture. He
has published on visual art, media, and performance among First Nations
on the Northwest Coast and has produced the documentary film In Search
of the Hamat'sa: A Tale of Headhunting.
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The 