Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1920-05-14
. HIS unusual photograph shows
one of the last--possibly the

last-of the carvers of totem
poles. He is William shelton,
head of the Indian reservation school
at TuIalip, Wash. The making of to-
TEN poles is an art and few nowadays
are the men who can carve them.
What totem pole looks like when
completed and set up is shown in the
side picture.
Shelton regards this enormous totem
pole as his life work. He has already
put in 5000 hours on it. 1t will set
forth the family history of the Snoho-
mish tribe of western Washington.
When set in place it will be 6 feet in
diameter and will rise "a feet Upon
completion of this life work Shelton
intends to devote the rest of his days
to informing the world of the true in
wardness of totem poles. 1t is large
undertaking.
What is a totem? Wen, 1t would
take a Philadelphia lawyer to figure it
out and then he'd have hard work TO
make the average man understand the
true inwardness of totemism, totem
and totem pole.
Totemism, the anthropologists say,
Is common to primitive man in many
parts of the world, but is far from be-
Ing universal. 1t is found among the
American Indians. but there are tribes
which show no trace of 1t. The Eski-
mos know nothing of II. Certain Afri-
can savages have IL. The Australians
have 1t.
A totem Is a class of material OBJ
jects which a savage regards with
superstitious respect. believing that
there exists between him and every
member of the class an intimate and
altogether special relation. The con-
nection between man and his totem
is mutually beneflcent: the totem pro-
tects the man and the man shows his
respect for the totem in various ways.
IF his totem is an animal he may show
this respect either by refusing to kill
and eat 1t or by making it his favorite
diet.
Early explorers found the American
indian communities. independent of
their local distribution into tribes.
bands and villages, composed of sew
eraI distinct clans. Each clan haA its
emblem. consisting of the figure of
some bird, beast or reptile. as for ex-
ample, the clans of the wolf, deer, OF
ter and hawk In the language of the
Algonauins these emblems are known
as totems. Members of the same clan
were prohibited from intermarriage
n man could take wife from any
clan but his own. To different to-
TENS attached different degrees of
rank and dignity; those of the bear.
tortoise and wolf were among the
first In honor. Members of the same
clan. though they might dwell far
apart and speak different dialects,
were yet bound by the closest ties of
fraternity. This kind of totem was
found in at least three varities: the
clan toteTI, common TO a whole clan
and passing by Inheritance from gem
GRAFTON 10 generation: the sex totem,
common either to all the males or to
all the females in tribe, TO the ex-
cluSion In either case of the other
sex: the individual totem, belonging
10 an individual and not passing to
his descendants.
AS to the totem pole. ii is hard to
say what it is. There Is one thing
however. which 1t is not; II is not
fetish or an idol or thing to be wor-
SHIPPED. The totem pole of one man
may be simply his individual totem.
A second totem pole may also bear the
clan totem of the owner. Then a chief
or rich man may have an elaborate
totem pole containing "all his crests
and all the stories connected with
them" So that very large and pre-
tentious totem pole may be sort OF
family tree Of the owner or even an
autobiography.
Even In case the carvers of totem
poles become extinct. number of the
most noteworthy of these remarkable
creations will be preserved for poster
ity for several generations to come.
Uncle Sam realized quite a while ago
the ACCESSIBILITY Of this. The result is
that there are two national monu-