May 27, 2010
The totem pole is subject of lecture June 1 at the Burke
Art historian Aldona Jonaitis will talk about her book, The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 1 at the Burke Museum. Jonaitis is director emerita of the University of Alaska Museum of the North and professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Although many of those who gaze at totem poles assume that they are ancient artifacts, the so-called totem pole is a relatively recent artistic development, one that has become immensely important to Northwest Coast people and has simultaneously gained a common place in popular culture — from fashion to the funny pages.
The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History reconstructs the intercultural history of the art form in its myriad manifestations from the eighteenth century to the present. The book focuses on the totem pole’s spread from the Northwest Coast to world’s fairs and global theme parks, its integration with the history of tourism and its transformation into a signifier of place. It also traces the role of governments, museums, and anthropologists in collecting and restoring poles, and the part that these carvings have continuously played in Native struggles for control of their cultures and their lands.
Jonaitis has published widely on Native American art and is also the author of Art of the Northwest Coast and Looking North: Art from the University of Alaska Museum, among other titles. A book signing will follow the presentation, which is free.
