Watching the Sunset

June 24, 2008 by Jay Taber.

The totems of Kwakiutl and other aboriginal coastal villages of British Columbia were often the initial cultural expressions encountered by other First Nations and explorers traveling the Inside Passage between the Salish Sea and Queen Charlotte Sound. Facing the setting sun, these carved accounts of history and clan were the ultimate fusion of art and craft, myth and legend.

In Looking at Totem Poles, Hilary Stewart recounts the history of this vital aspect of the indigenous civilization spanning some thousand miles of still dramatic coastline, including many illustrations and stories about how this culture was clandestinely preserved and adapted to the hostile environment of European invasion. The book is informative as well as inspiring in many ways.

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