They are sculptures carved from trees. They illustrate kinships. They were first carved by the Haida tribe. They are NOT used for spiritual worship.
What is your clan? Can we everyone introduce their clans. As we have the students say their clans one student can write down the different clans on the smart board.
Next we are going to translate the clan names to what they are describing. For example: Todachinnie is “bitterwater”.
We are going to be making totem poles in a very non-traditional way. We are going to be learning about paper sculptures and building art with paper. You paper sculptures are going to represent each of your clans. Each section will be a clan, going from most important at the top to least important at the bottom.
paper-art-and-paper-sculptures/ paper-art-and-paper-sculptures/
First brainstorm ideas on how you are going to depict your clan name. Next draw out what your totem pole is going to look like. Finally cut out paper and start building your totems. Use Glue sticks as your method of attaching. (It’s cleaner).