Totem Poles of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe

On one of the last weekends that Donna could travel, it was our decision to go out to Olympic National Park for the day.

On the way to the park we pass the town of Jamestown where years ago I had remembered stopping at an Indian Totem workshop. 

This is the Carving Shed in Jamestown, where Donna and I had toured 10 or 12 years ago. The totem can have many different meanings to each community, tribe or family that commissions its own totem. 

Simply put..."Totems are stories told in wood" Totems can tell a family's story, a tribe's history or just an "idol" commemorating some of natures wonders. Totems are carved and painted to fill the need of a group of clansmen. It might be a "welcome pole", "burial pole", "heraldic pole" or maybe just a "ridicule pole".

This 38 foot totem in front of the Jamestown Family Health Center is across the road from us and is dedicated to, what else...symbols that represent something to do with health issues.

Hopefully Donna is not being disrespectful or irreverent to our native brothers and sisters by putting her foot on the base of the statue. This totem is known as the "Sea Spirit" and of course was carved to show respect to mother nature and her ocean.

The above posting answers some of the common questions like what kind of wood...500 to 900 year old western red cedars, how much do they cost...a lot and do they use power tools...no.

The carving shed was opened for us to walk up and down the isle unescorted and ask questions as we go. As I walked into the shed I immediately thought that the poles were made of clay because of that very "clayish" (is that a word) color at the bottom of the totem. Turned out to be the base paint that also protects the wood.

All totems start out on paper as a collaboration between the buyer and the carver.

I see a family resemblance here... ha ha

The master designer, totem carver and manager is Dale Faulstich who (believe or not) has no Native American blood in him. Dale has run the shop and carved poles for the last 15 years here in Jamestown and is a professional at his job. Mr Faulstich guides native and non natives in the shop to produce some very highly sought out totems. Dale was gracious to give Donna and myself a personal tour of the facility. The notch in the backside of the log is to relieve pressure on the wood and reduce the chance of splitting.

These two photos are of Dale's personal tools, all are hand made and hand sharpened. Dale also had four other drawers of tools in his tool chest. All carvers have their own tools and as you might expect, other than cutting the tree down...all totems are made with "hand only" tools.

Dale showed Donna and I an example of how he makes a "straight adze" from a single branch (sorry, forgot the name of the wood) and because the branch is growing out of the limb it has intertwined grain which makes it especially strong.

 The shop seems to be working on four or five totems at a time. The typical pole, when finished, will cost from $100K to $300K and take up to 6 months to complete. The special paint costs $250 per gallon and takes quite a few for every totem. Laying down or standing up tall, these totems are a beautiful work of art.

Donna and I enjoyed our trip back in time from when we first came here...personally I'd love to spend hours watching the artists go about their work but

 we must head to Hurricane Ridge, inside of the Olympic National Park.