Totem Poles (1958)

British Colombia, Canada. Two men carve and paint totem poles. A young girl sits beside them with a small wooden sculpture in her hands. The men are Arvid Charlie of the Cowichan tribe and his father Simon. They carve their totem poles from Red Cedar trunks with primitive hand tools. The narrator compares this ancient craft with some of the crazy modern art of the day. The narrator then explains the symbolism of totem poles. They do not constitute an idol nor tell a story - they are simply a selection of the family crests with the addition of a few legendary creatures. A “family tree with a difference“. A young boy wearing what looks like a native American Indian head-dress carves a piece of wood. Two young Canadian boys clamber over a totem pole. View of a large uncarved Red Cedar trunk which makes an archway over a Canadian road. FILM ID: A VIDEO FROM BRITISH PATHÉ. EXPLORE OUR ONLINE CHANNEL, BRITISH PATHÉ TV. IT’S FULL OF GREAT DOCUMENTARIES, FASCINATING INTERVIEWS, AND CLASS