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Narrator: Listen to part of a discussion in an anthropology class. The professor is talking about totem poles.
Professor:
    Some of the largest and most elaborate totem poles are those carved by the Haida people who live on Queen Charlotte Island about 150 kilometers west of the coast of British Columbia, as well as on the smaller islands along the West Coast of Canada These islands are densely covered with huge red cedar trees that have served for many years as the material for the poles. Some of the totem poles are as tall as the trees themselves.
    Historically, the Haida have carved and raised the totem poles for several important reasons.., to  Q29
honor an elder who’s died, to record family ancestry and the accomplishments of the clan, to serve as a reminder for ancient stores that are part of an oral tradition, and.., to recognize a person who’s sponsored a Potlach ceremony. As an aside, the Potlach is a celebration that includes feasting and the
    exchange of gifts. There might also be singing, story telling, and dancing, and 1’tl go into that more a bit  Q30
later in the semester.
    But back to the significance of the totem poles. When you see a totem pole, it’s obvious that the carvings depict figures of animals and humans, stacked one on top of the other. It’s probably less clear
that the selection and placement of the carved figures is deeply symbolic. So to really understand how  Q31
important the totem poles are in Haida culture and to have an insight into the symbolism, I want you to think about all of the symbols in a European coat of arms. For example, the Coat of Arms of Canada includes a unicorn and a lion, a fleur delis, and maple leaves. What’s the point? Anyone? Come on. I’ll give you one guess.
Student 1
    Do you mean that this coat of arms is a symbol.., uh, I mean it identifies the people of Canada?
Professor:
    Precisely. And that’s what a totem pole does as well. It identifies the people of the family or clan or village in a symbolic way. The raven and the eagle are usually incorporated in the pole because the Haida people traditionally belong to one or the other of these two important clans. Other animals may recall a time before people lived on the earth, when birds and animals talked with each other and supernatural events explained history and provided examples for religious teachings.
    But some symbols and the stories associated with them.., these are known only to the owner of the pole, and of course, to the carver. Although some symbolic meanings are repeated, such as the association of healing power with the wolf or dignity with the bear, still, it’s just not possible to recreate a story merely by looking at the pole. So, unless the stories are passed down to relatives or recorded by an anthropologist, then the meaning attached to an individual totem pole can be... lost.
Student 2:
    Excuse me, I keep thinking about that old expression, low man on the totem pole. How does that fit in ... to the symbolism, I mean.
Professor:
    I knew someone would bring that up. Okay. Low man on the totem pole means "a person with very little  Q32
status" but actually, we know that this expression isn’t at all in keeping with the tradition of carving totem poles. In fact, the lower figures on the totem pole are usually the most important.
Student 3: Why?
Professor:
    For a very practical reason. Not symbolic at all. Remember the size of a totem pole? Well, it’s often   Q33
carved by more than one artist, usually a master carver and a number of apprentices, and the master carver is the one who carves the bottom ten feet of the pole, leaving the upper figures to the less experienced apprentices: The most elaborate Carving and therefore the most important figures are at the bottom of the pole where people are able to see them more clearly than they can see the figures at the top. In fact, many totem poles have a thunderbird at the top, which serves as a cap. As the lord of the sky, this choice is logical, but most of the time, it has very little significance in the story of the pole and it might be the.., the crudest carving.
Student 3: So did the Haida people worship the totem poles?
Professor:
    That’s another old myth. Totem poles were not worshiped and were not used to frighten away evil spirits as some early records supposed.
    Now, no one knows exactly how long the Haida have been carving totem poles, and the reason for this is that a cedar pole that’s been exposed to the elements  uh, it will decay in fewer than one hundred years, so archeologists don’t have a physical record of totem poles over the centuries. Probably the best description that we have of the tradition dates back to the late 1700s when European sailing vessels began trading with the Haida, and we know from ships’ journals that totem poles were a well-established tradition at that time. Some of them were painted and others weren’t, so that option seems to have been left to the discretion of the owner and the carver.
    Okay, it’s almost time for the bell to ring, but I want to mention that although our discussion has focused on the Haida, interestingly enough, many other aboriginal people have a history of carving
totem poles as well. Just off the top of my head, I’d have to include the Tlingit and Tsimshian people of  Q34
Alaska and the Salish people of Western Washington and British Columbia. And Maori people of New Zealand.. and the... the Ainu people from Northern Japan, But that isn’t an inclusive list by any means.