Totem poles are tall wooden logs decorated with beautiful symbols
and paintings. The geographical area which gave birth to totem poles is the
northwest coast of North America, and the people who created them are the North
America Northwest Coast Indians. This area is the only place in the world which
has produced the totem, so it is also known jokingly as the Totem polar Region.
Once a tree was selected and cut down, it was hollowed out. Then it was marked
off into equal sections in order to be carved. After the carvings were
completed, sometimes by more than one carver, the totem pole was painted in
shades of red, black, green and blue. There were several kinds of totem poles,
depending on the reason why they were built. For example, there were memorial
poles which honoured both the living and the dead, house posts which supported
the roof, portal poles, welcoming poles, and many others. Apart from anything
else, however, totem poles were built as a way of passing on stories, myths and
legends about the Indian culture. The totem pole was a means for Northwest
Coast Indians to communicate and remember past events. The term totem is
derived from the word ototeman, which means a blood relationship between
brothers and sisters. A totem could be companion a relative, a protector, a
helper, a supernatural power or an ancestor, and it served as a symbol of a
family group or a person. Indians believed there is a close connection between
a group of people on the one hand, and a species of animal or plant on the
other.