The Symbolism and Art Work of Totem Poles

In order to fully appreciate artwork of a totem pole, one needs to have some background knowledge of the art styles. On of the most characteristic forms of North West Coast artwork is known as an ovoid, found usually as eyes, or limb joints, ovoid is an oval shape, often surrounded by a more square shape, these are often a noticeable feature on totem poles (Halpin, 1981). Upon inspection of the animal artwork of a totem pole, one will notice, that although the crests have key animal characteristics, such as teeth, ears, and tails, many of them have the posture of humans, such as sitting, kneeling or standing, also the placement of the facial features often follow a human face structure. These subtle details are illustrating the First Nations belief that at one time, humans and animals could transform, and that all animals have a human spirit (Halpin, 1981). Another subtle detail in the design of totem poles is the size difference between the human crests and animal crests. Human’s, if represented on the totem pole, are very small, and close to the bottom, the animal crests are much larger, and have high positions on the pole, this signifies the idea that humans are less powerful, and must respect the animal spirits (Halpin, 1981).

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