Totem poles are carved from great trees, most often Western Redcedar, along the Pacific coast of North America.

Haida Totem pole in Victoria, British Columbia

Totem poles often have lineage crests on them. During the nineteenth century, the fashion was for totem poles to be erected as integral parts of great houses, but freestanding totem poles have always been more common. In all likelihood, the freestanding lineage poles seen by the first European explorers were preceded by a long history of monumental carving, including exterior and interior houseposts. Many villages, for example, contained mortuary structures which incorporated grave boxes with carved supporting poles. Poles were also carved to recount stories, to commemorate historic deeds or persons, and to provide objects of public ridicule for people. Poles of all types share a common graphic style with carved and painted containers, housefronts, canoes, masks, intricately-woven blankets, other ceremonial dress, weapons, armor, and many other tools and implements, from spoons, bracelets, and pipes to halibut hooks and spindle whorls. Two distinct systems of art were developed for two-dimensional and three-dimensional figures, but both maintained the same common style.

This carving style was developed by Northwest Coast Native Peoples (see Native Americans) over many thousands of years. The styles most commonly seen on totem poles include the "classic" or "Northern" style of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples of Southeast Alaska and Northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Neighboring peoples of the Northern B.C. mainland and Northern Vancouver Island, including the Haisla and Bella Coola, also shared in and contributed to this northern style. In this style the use of colors other than black, red, and turqoise is minimal to nonexistent. The designs become more simply illustrated the further north poles are found, with less intertwining and layering of figures, but the simplicity does not imply poor execution.

The Wakashan and Coast Salish-speaking peoples of Southern British Columbia (Vancouver Island and the nearby mainland) and of Northwestern Washington State shared a "Southern" painting and carving style. The dramatic Thunderbirds and similar crest figures on totem poles and housefront paintings of the Wakashan-speaking Kwak-wakw-wakw (Kwakiutl) peoples are the best-known examples of this style, characterized by more elaborate use of color. However, the wolf masks and dance screens of the West Coast (of Vancouver Island) peoples and the carved houseposts, spindle whorls, and ceremonial rattles of the Coast Salish-speaking peoples (of the Gulf of Georgia and Puget Sound), while less well known to the general public, are equally deserving of attention.

Although recognizably different, the Northern and Southern styles share enough resemblances that scholars assume a common origin, as well as a substantial amount of mutual influence over the centuries preceding European contact.

The disruptions following upon Euro-American trade and settlement first led to a florescence and then to a decline in the cultures and carving. Today, fortunately, a combination of native cultural, linguistic, and artistic revival along with intense scholarly scrutiny and the continuing fascination and support of an educated and empathetic public, have led to a renewal and extension of this ancient and magnificent artistic tradition. Freshly-carved totem poles are being erected up and down the coast. Related artistic production is pouring forth in many new and traditional media, ranging from tourist trinkets to masterful works in wood, paper, blown glass, and bronze.

Today a number of successful native artists carve totem poles on commission, usually taking the opportunity to educate apprentices in the demanding art of traditional carving and its concomitant joinery. Such modern poles are almost always executed in traditional styles, although some artists have felt free to include modern subject matter or use nontraditional styles in their execution. The commission for a modern pole ranges in the tens of thousands of dollars; the time spent carving after initial designs are completed usually lasts about a year, so the commission essentially functions as the artist's primary means of income during the period.

Erection of a totem pole is almost never done using modern methods, even for poles installed in modern settings on the outside of public and private buildings. Instead the traditional ceremony and process of erection is still followed scrupulously by most artists, in that a great wooden scaffold is built and hundreds of strong men haul the pole upright into its footing while others steady the pole from side ropes and brace it with cross beams. Once the pole is erected a potlatch is typically held where the carver is formally paid and other traditional activities are conducted. The carver will usually, once the pole is freestanding, perform a celebratory and propitiary dance next to the pole while wielding the tools used to carve it. Also, the base of the pole is burnt before erection to provide a sort of rot resistance, and the fire is made with chips carved from the pole.

Totem poles are typically not well maintained after their erection. Traditionally once the wood rots so badly that it begins to lean and pose a threat to passersby, the pole is either destroyed or left to fall over. It may be replaced by a new pole carved more or less the same as the original, with the same subject matter, but this requires a new payment and potlatch and is thus not always done. The beliefs behind the lack of maintenance vary among individuals, but generally it is believed that the deterioration of the pole is representative of natural processes of decay and death that occur with all living things, and attempts to prevent this are seen as somehow denying or ignoring the nature of the world. That has not however prevented many people from occasionally renewing the paint on poles or performing further restorations, mostly because the expense of a new pole is beyond feasibility for the owner. Also, owners of poles who are not familiar with cultural traditions may see upkeep as a necessary investment for property, and ignore the philosophical implications. It is best to treat the question of totem pole maintenance on a case by case basis, especially asking the artist for their opinion on the matter during or just after the production process.

Since totem poles are not the exclusive cultural property of a single culture and hence the designs are not easily protected, the art and tourist trinket worlds have become inundated by cheap imitations of totem poles executed with little or no knowledge of the complex stylistic conventions demanded by Northwest Coast art. This proliferation of 'totem junk' has diluted the public interest and respect for the artistic skill and deep cultural knowledge required to produce a pole.

See also

• totem

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