Kwakiutl Totem Designs

Various Totem Poles of the Northwest American Indians

Please note how each separate part of the entire pole relates with the rest of the design areas

     The thunderbird atop many poles is just as (in)significant as the star on a Christmas tree.  It was kind of an finishing touch, and not of any great importance.  “Low man on the totem pole” is an improper saying.  Why?, because the lower to the ground the figures the more skilled the craftsman.  People would see that work up close.  It was the novices who were to carve the figures higher up.  Note that there are many times figures within figures.  These representations are not only of relatives, but of supernatural creatures as well.  Creatures to watch over the family and so on.

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