Model Totem Pole | Argillite

Item number 2004-2/40 from the The Burke: University of Washington.

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Exhibit Label

In the Spirit of the Ancestors-This model pole reproduces the figures from a late 19th century pole from the Haida village of Howkan in Southeast Alaska. The pole displays the wasgo, a supernatural sea wolf at the bottom, holding a killer whale; the bird-in-the-air who assisted the hero in capturing the wasgo; the young man who captured the wasgo and wore his skin; and the shaman mother-in-law of the young man who took credit for his work, holding her circular puffin-beak rattles.