Hermanner Volksblatt. [volume] (Hermann, Mo.) 1875-1928, 1921-01-07

liz uAlhNuo
one of the laSt-poSSibly the
last-of the carvers Of totem
poles. He Is William Shelton,
head of the Indian reservation school
at Tulalip. Wash. The making Of to-
TEN poles is an art and few nowadays
are the men who can carve them.
What a 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 1t. 1t VIII set
forth the family history Of the Snoho-
mlsh tribe of western Washington.
When set in place it will be 6 feet in
diameter and will rise 81 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 a large
undertaking.
What Is a totem? Well, 1t would
take a Philadelphia lawyer to figure 1t
ont 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 It. The Eski-
mos know nothing Of It. Certain Afri-
can sayages have 1t. The Australians
have It.
A totem Is a class of material OBJ
tects which n savage regards with
guperstitious respect, believing that
there exists between him and every
member of the class an intimate and
altogether special relation. The con-
. nection between a mar and his totem
is mutually benefcent; the totem pro-
tects the man and the man shows his
respect for the totem In various ways.
II his totem Is an animal he may show
this respect either by refusing to Kill
and eat It or by making it his favorlte
diet.
Early explorers found the American
Indian communities. independent OF
their local distribution into tribes,
bands and villages, composed of sew
eral distinct clans. Each clan had Its
emblem, consisting of the figure Of
some bird, beast or reptile, as for ex-
annie, the clans Of the wolf, deer, OF
FER and hawk. In the language OF the
A%Ieonoulns these emblems are known
az totems. Members Of the same clan
were prohibited from intermarriage
I mar could take a wife from any
elan hut his own. To different to-
TENS attached different degrees of
rank and dignity; those OF the bear,
tortoise and wolf were among the
t,rst in honor. Members Of the same
clan. though they might dwell far
anart and speak different dialects,
were vet bound by the closest ties OF
fraternity. This kind of totem was
,opnd in at least three varities: the
cIan totem, common to n whole ella
and passing by Inheritance from gen
Grafton to generation the sex totem,
common either to all the males or to
all the females In a tribe. to the ex'
c,usion in either case Of the other
.ex. the individual totem, belonging
IN an individual and not passing to
his descendants.
As to the totem pole. 1t Is hard &c
sov vhat X Is. There Is one thing
hnypeyer. which it Is not; II is not
fetish or an idol or a thing to be wor
shiped. The totem pole OF one mar
NAV be simply his individual totem
second totem pole may also bear the
.,an totem of the owner. Then a CHIEF
or \ rich man may have an elaborate
totem pole containing "all his crest:
md all the stories connected witt
,ham" So that a very large and pre-
tentIous totem pole may be a sort O
emily tree of the owner or even ar
autobiography.
Even in case the of totem
.o,es become extinct, a number OF tht
s,ost noteworthy Of these remarkable
n,p,, Mons will he preserved for poster
,y for several generations to come
r,cle Sam realized quite a while age
NJ o~dyisability Of this. The result |,
Nat there are two national monu