Totem Pole
Unknown Artist
c. 1880
Medium
carved and painted wood
Dimensions
189.2 × 8.8 cm
Classification
Sculpture
Department
Art of the Americas
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Accession Number
1989.89
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Native American villages of the Pacific Northwest were marked by great totem poles that proclaimed the rank and ancestry of their owners. This small model pole was once owned by a Tlingit storyteller, a member of the coho salmon clan, of the raven tribe. Because the pole has been stored indoors, its carving and bright, original colors are undamaged by the elements. Reportedly, this totem pole illustrates several stories. Kushda-Kaw, the land-otter, is the pole's lowermost figure; above him is hi...