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May 3, 2007
Whidbey Island, WA  In preperation for my 30' standing stump I'll be carving in Northern California, I went on a research field trip and met up with an old high school aquaintance, Nathan, who is now totem carver extraordinare. First time I've seen his work...and I'm blown away.

The work in this shop took a year by the trio of carvers, including Dale the designer.  The tools used; chainsaw to rough out as well as adzes, finally finishing off with chisels and finer adzes...patiently making sure everything is in balance and just right. The next step is to paint.



The trio of carvers are working with the S'Klallam Tribe (meaning Strong People) in Washington, part of the Salish whose region covers  ther North Western coast of Washington up thru British Columbia.

What the S'Klallam elders is doing with the carvers is reviving as well as making their art contemporary with the times but at the same time paying attention to tradition.  To visit the seven cedars, seven totem poles carved in the style of several Pacific Northwest tribes, not only of the Salish but including the Bella Coola, the Haida, the Kwakiutl, and the Tlingit was an exciting and encouraging moment.   


Styles of carvings representend is a tribute to the tribes from left to right; Bella Coola, Haida, Kwakitul, Tlinget.

  And of course the Salish:   The story...

Whale and Whale Hunter

The whale is seen head pointing down, pectoral fins rising up on either side.  The small human face between these fins represents the whale’s “blow-hole”.  From the face, projects the whales dorsal fin’ above are the tall flukes.  Between the tail flukes is the face of the whale hunter.  Below the flukes, but above the pectoral fins, are the hunter’s arms and legs wrapped around the whale’s body.

The next figure, above the whale hunter, is the sun.  The sun was an important Salish mythological character.  Before contact with Europeans, the S’Klallam people thought of the sun as a manifestation of “Chief Above” or “Old One’.  “Old one” made earth a woman, to be a mother to all people, and the sun a man to be our father.  Earth is alive, the soil and rocks are her flesh and bones.  Trees and grass are her hair.  The wind is her breath, water is her tears.  “Old One” took some of Earth’s flesh mixed with tears, and shaped it into clay figures.  When the sun looks (or shone) on these mud figures, they became the first people, the animal people.  The last of the mud balls that “Old One” made, where shaped into men.  They were the most helpless of all creatures.  Thus, all living things came from the union of sun and earth; the mother and father of all things.

The next figure on the pole, the raven, is seen here grasping the sun’s corona in his beak.  Raven an important and prestigious crest, and a cultural hero in many Northwest Coast Indian legends.  He was attributed with magical supernatural powers and could transform himself into anything at anytime.  Known as the ‘trickster” it is said that he helped put the sun, moon and stars into the sky, fish in the sea, salmon in the rivers, and food on the land.

On this totem pole, the raven, the sun, and the whale hunter and whale, represent the cultural heritage of the S’klallam People.  The top most, a paddler, represents Jamestown’s participation in the “Paddle to Bella Bella” a contemporary journey that marked the Tribes cultural awareness and pride in their heritage.



S'Klallam Legends are carved in the Salish style; but with a contemporary twist.  Create in 2004 by