Salish Totem

Coast Salish totem pole, circa 1900-1920. Although totem poles have long been associated with Seattle, the familiar Northern Northwest Coast form of monumental, freestanding, multifigured totem poles were not historically an Indigenous artform in Puget Sound. This association can largely be traced back to the theft of a monumental Tlingit pole by a group of Seattle businessmen on a steamship trip to Southeastern Alaska in 1899. The men who stole the totem returned to Seattle and presented it to the city to be raised in Pioneer Square, near the waterfront. There have been several iterations of this pole over the last 125 years, which remains a major local landmark and has come to be known as “The Seattle Totem.” This model pole was created by a local Coast Salish artist for one of the Seattle-based curio shops sometime in the first quarter of the 20th century. It represents the Seattle Totem and reflects the artist’s reconciliation of his Coast Salish carving sensibilities with the Tlingit imagery of the original monumental pole. This model is older with a wonderful, warm patina. 14" x 1 1/2" x 1 1/2"