LEVELED

LEVELEDREADER
BOOK • •N A
Totem Poles
A Reading A–Z Level N Leveled Book
Word Count: 657
Totem
Poles

Written by Barbara A. Donovan

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Totem Poles
Photo Credits:
Front cover, back cover, title page, page 5: © ArtToday; pages 3, 6:
© Jupiterimages Corporation; page 7: Gunter Marx/QC/Alamy; page 8:
GeoMuse/Alamy; page 11: © Rich Reid/National Geographic Stock; page 12:
© Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post/Getty Images; page 13: © Hall Anderson/
Ketchikan Daily News/AP Images; page 14: © James Poulson/Daily Sitka Sentinel/
AP Images; page 15: © Edwin Verin/Dreamstime.com

Illustration Credit:
Pages 9, 10: Cende Hill/© Learning A–Z

Written by Barbara A. Donovan

Totem Poles
Level N Leveled Book Correlation
© Learning A–Z LEVEL N
Written by Barbara A. Donovan
Fountas & Pinnell L
All rights reserved. Reading Recovery 20
www.readinga-z.com www.readinga-z.com DRA 28
 Monuments of Cedar
Carving a bird from a block of wood
is hard work, but imagine carving
animals on a piece of wood as long
as a tree trunk! Native peoples
living along the Pacific Northwest
Coast have been doing just that for
hundreds of years. These carvings
are called totem poles.

Pacific Northwest Coast

Alaska
Table of Contents
Monuments of Cedar . . . . . . . . . . . 4
CANADA

PA
Totem Poles Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

CI
FI
C
CE

O
AN
Carving a Totem Pole . . . . . . . . . . 11
Washington

AT O C E
The Northwest Coast ranges CANADA

LA AN
Totem Poles Come Home . . . . . . . 15

NTIC
from southern Alaska down UNITED
to Oregon. Oregon STATES

PA E A N
OC
CI
FI
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

C
Totem Poles • Level N 3 4
 Totem Poles Speak
Totem poles are
carved in different
styles and for
different reasons.
The figures carved
on the poles have
special meanings
and help record
history. Memorial
poles describe
someone’s life or a
The totem pole and painted housefront of the potlatch house
special event. Other at Totem Bight State Historic Park, Ketchikan, Alaska

totem poles tell the Some houses have totem poles

history of a clan, that are part of the house itself.
or family group, House poles are carved into the
and still others doorways, on the outside corners,
welcome visitors. or on poles that support the roof.
Totem poles can be as tall
as 40 feet (12.2 m). They are These poles show the wealth and
made from cedar trees.
status of the family.
Totem Poles • Level N 5 6
Mortuary poles are like gravestones.
A Legend of Black Bear
The carvings on the pole honor the This totem pole stands at the entrance to Van Dusen
life of a person who has died. They Gardens in Vancouver, British Columbia. It records how Killer
Whale clan* took Black Bear for its crest, or special symbol.
tell about important events and One day, a hunter
family relationships in the dead went into the mountains Hunter
looking for mountain
person’s life. goats. Black Bear
captured him and
brought the hunter
Some totem to his den. The man
poles welcome lived with Black Bear.
Although they became
visitors to a friends, the man Kind Man
missed his village.
village. These
After two years,
are typically Black Bear let the man
go home. By now, the
single human man looked like a bear.
figures. They The villagers ran from
Black Bear
him. Finally, one kind
are put near man rubbed medicine
on the man’s body.
a beach or Soon the man looked Black Bear’s
stream to human again, and he human form
took Black Bear as his
show visitors crest. His friend Black
Bear always protected
that they are the man’s family.
welcome. Mortuary totem poles *Gispwudwada is the name for the Killer Whale clan in the language
of the Tsimshian (TSIM-shee-an) nation of British Columbia.

Totem Poles • Level N 7 8

These illustrations show some of the
most common figures you can see on
totem poles. While each culture has
different stories about them, some
traits of each animal remain the same.
Raven
Bird with a straight beak
Raven is a trickster. He
can change shape into almost
anything—a bird, a human,
or even a speck of dirt.
Bear
Round ears, many teeth
Bear is a caring, godlike
creature that can change
from bear to human form.
Beaver
Long front teeth, flat tail
with crisscross lines
Beaver is a clever carver
whose powerful tail-slap
can cause earthquakes
or turn him invisible.
Totem Poles • Level N
Watchmen
Crouching men with
very tall hats
Watchmen are human
figures who can spot
danger from far away.
Thunderbird
Curly feathers that
look like horns
Thunderbird is
one of the most
powerful spirits
for many Native
peoples. It causes
thunder and
lightning, and is
large enough to catch
a whale in its talons.
Wolf
Pointed ears, long snout,
many sharp teeth
Wolf is not friendly to
humans, though he knows
the secrets of healing.
9 10
 Carving a Totem Pole
In the past, a clan would hire a
master carver to make a totem pole.
Today, many museums, businesses,
and people around the world also
want totem poles created for them.
First, they hire a carver and work
Carver David Boxley puts finishing touches on a 22-foot (7 m) totem pole at
with them to plan the pole. the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., in 2012.
Boxley is from the Tsimshian tribe in Alaska.

The carver finds a tree with no knots Often, a team of carvers works on
or bends. The carver cuts down the the totem pole. The master carver
tree, cuts off the branches, and hauls draws the designs on the log with
it to the workshop. Then the carver charcoal. The master carver works
chips away the soft outer wood. on the bottom figure of the pole.
That’s because this figure is the
biggest and most important, and
everyone can see it up close. Helpers
carve and paint other figures on the
totem pole. Carving a big pole
can take as long as nine months.
A Tlingit (TLING-kit) man carves a totem pole in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Totem Poles • Level N 11 12

 When the pole is ready, it is brought
A Master at Work
Today, some Native people of the Northwest Coast to the place where it will stand.
still work with wood to make traditional art. You can see
totem poles being carved at Saxman Native Village near
A potlatch, or special ceremony,
Ketchikan, Alaska. The village was settled by the Tlingit is held to celebrate the raising of
in 1894. Visitors from all over the world go there each
year to see the village’s many beautiful totem poles and the pole. There is feasting, dancing,
to watch carvers at work.
singing, and gift giving, and
The most famous carver working there is Nathan
Jackson. He has won many awards, and many feel he the totem pole’s events are told.
helped bring Northwest Coast art back to life. In doing
so, he has helped inspire many other artists. Prayers and blessings may be said
for the pole and for the
people who own it.

Return of
the Potlatch
In 1884, the
government of
British Columbia
passed a law making
potlatches illegal,
and most First
Nations stopped
Three men carve a totem pole for the Field Museum in Chicago. carving totem poles.
They include Jackson (right) and his son, Stephen (center). But in 1951, the law
was dropped and
A carver helps raise a 40-foot (12 m) pole at they began carving
Sitka National Historical Park in Alaska. totem poles again.

Totem Poles • Level N 13 14

 Totem Poles Come Home Glossary
When European explorers came to carver (n.) person who carves
the Northwest Coast in the 1800s, a hard material, such
they were impressed by the totem as wood (p. 9)
poles they found. Many of the poles clan (n.) a family group (p. 5)
ended up in museums.
memorial totem poles that
In 1990, the United poles (n.) represent the memory
States passed a new of a person, place,
law. It said Native thing, or event (p. 5)
peoples would be
able to get back mortuary totem poles that honor
property that had poles (n.) dead people (p. 7)
been stolen from potlatch (n.) a ceremony to celebrate
them. Because of important events (p. 14)
this law, many totem
poles are returning totem wooden poles
to their homes and poles (n.) carved from cedar
to the people who by Northwest Coast
A painted totem pole
created them. spreads its wings in Native peoples (p. 4)
Vancouver, British Columbia.

Totem Poles • Level N 15 16