North American Totem Poles
The misnamed totem poles of the Pacific Northwest of North America are, in fact, not totemic in nature. Rather, they are heraldic. They feature many different designs (bears, birds, frogs, people, and various supernatural beings and aquatic creatures) that function as crests of families or chiefs. They recount stories owned by those families or chiefs, and/or commemorate special occasions.
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Famous quotes containing the words totem poles, north, american, totem and/or poles:
“Totem poles and wooden masks no longer suggest tribal villages but fashionable drawing rooms in New York and Paris.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“I am fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason.”
—Edmund H. North (1911–1990)
“The women’s liberation movement at this point in history makes the American Communist Party of the 1930s look like a monolith.”
—Nora Ephron (b. 1941)
“Averageness is a quality we must put up with. Men march toward civilization in column formation, and by the time the van has learned to admire the masters the rear is drawing reluctantly away from the totem pole.”
—Frank Moore Colby (1865–1925)
“The Poles do not know how to hate, thank God.”
—Stefan, Cardinal Wyszynski (1901–1981)