A totem is a representation of a spirit being, signifying a family crest or emblem of a clan or lineage. Totems occur worldwide to commemorate ancestors and recount familiar legends. In terms of architecture, totems on a post could be used to support a house or lodge, or as an elaborate entrance portal.
From Vancouver Island to Northern California along the coast, totems were carved on poles of red cedar trees. Ranging from two to eighteen meters tall, the carved poles were brightly painted in black, red, blue, blue-green, white, and sometimes included yellow wood. Large totem poles were commissioned for an important person as a memorial to announce a 'pot latch' festival of communal sharing provided by a chief to distribute his possessions to the community.
Totem poles were not worshiped or part of spiritual practice, yet conveyed important meaning. In contrast, a totem pole could be ironically used to shame and ridicule a person deviating from the social norm by depicting frogs sitting on a horizontal post on the top of the pole as a way to publicly observe a person's wrong doings and encourage amends to be made. Once that was done, the shame post would be removed and avoid possible conflict with reconciliation, and to welcome the person back to the social order.
People of the totem lived in peace and perpetuated a memory system. These cultural attributes also could be found among the Tongva people living among us in Southern California.
Today I am writing about a totem pole you could visit in Santa Monica. In 1926, a totem pole was donated to the city by J. Walter. This totem pole is located in Palisades Park at a place known as Inspiration Point where Ocean Avenue begins. It's in a peaceful setting of pine trees and where you can hear the ocean waves crashing on the beach far below the bluff.
When visiting the totem pole, what figures could you find? Is there an eagle, killer whale known as orca, a black bear, or a supernatural human ancestor represented? Or others? Explore unique and ancient meanings in the totem pole of Santa Monica and enjoy with appreciation and gratitude for the diversity of cultures around us.
By David Blundell
Blundell is a native of Santa Monica and an anthropologist active in the field of environmental sustainability in programs at Santa Monica College and UCLA. He offers his courses through the UCLA Extension Program.
Comments