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Before European Contact
Before Europeans arrived in Canada, West Coast First Nations, specifically theHaida,Nuxalk ,Bella Coola,Kwakwaka’wakw,Tsimshianand Łingít were among the first to carve totem poles. The first totem poles were carved by hand using tools such as sea shells or beaver teeth. -
Arrival of Europeans
Europeans brought new material such as steel to Canada which changed the way totem poles were carved. Through trade with Europeans, Indigenous people used the steel to make carving tools that were easier to use. This increased the
number of totem poles that could be carved. -
Banning of all Indigenous Cultural Practices
In 1884, the Canadian government sought to assimilate Indigenous people by banning cultural expressions and practices such as the potlatch ceremonies. The intention was for Indigenous people to adopt Euro-Canadian culture and Christian traditions. At the same time, thousands of items such as totem poles and ceremonial regalia were stolen from Indigenous people and sent to museums and private collectors throughout North America and Europe. -
Cultural Appropriation
Despite banning cultural practices more than fifty years earlier, the Canadian Government's Travel Bureau published its first promotional booklet with two totem poles on the cover. -
A Revival Begins
Despite the ongoing ban, there was revival of totem pole carving that began with Ellen Neel, the granddaughter of the famous Kwakwaka’wakw carver, Charlie James. Neel mostly carved miniature
totems for tourists, including an order of 5,000 pieces from the Hudson’s Bay Company stores.
She also carved some totem poles for the University British Columbia. -
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A New Generation of Carvers
A new generation of carvers were trained and created a renaissance of totem pole carving. They carved replicas and new types of totem poles such as the "Commemorative Pole". -
The Repeal
The ban on all Indigenous cultural practices including potlatch and totem poles was repealed in 1951. -
The Commercialization of Totems Poles
Beginning in the 1960s, totem pole kitsch, plastic miniatures, and totem pole emblems were put a variety of products from tea towels to water bottles and sold in in tourist shops all over the country. -
The Search for Stolen Artifacts
In 1978, the Canadian Museum of History began returning stolen potlatch ceremonial artifacts to the rightful Indigenous owners. -
The Search Never Ends
Many Indigenous communities have had difficulty repatriating totem poles that were stolen from them and displayed all over the world. The first totem pole repatriated from oversees was the G'psgolox Pole. In 1929, it was taken from the Haisla village of Misk’usa and shipped to Sweden. The Haisla only learned of its location in 1991. The museum returned the pole, and the Haisla agreed to carve a replacement. On July 1, 2006, the Haisla officially welcomed the pole home to Kitimat.