Analysis Of Totem By Thomas King

Totems hold great significance as they represent connections with the land, the Dreamtime and ancestors.

In the short story “Totem” by Thomas King, the relationship between the totem pole and the museum workers is predominantly negative. The relationship between the totem pole and the museum workers is depicted as being overpowering, authoritative, and entitled when the workers unceasingly try to remove the totem pole from the museum. Ultimately, the totem pole symbolizes the struggles, resilience, and perseverance of the Indigenous people in Canada.

In the short story “Totem” by Thomas King, it is very evident that the relationship between the totem pole and the museum workers is a rather negative relationship. The relationship is depicted in “Totem” as an overpowering, authoritative, and entitled relationship. The relationship between the totem pole and the museum workers is depicted through the museum workers such as Mrs. Hill, Walter Hooton, and the other worker’s reaction and constant need to remove the totem pole.

Throughout the process of colonization, the Native people in Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart, Silas Hagerty’s documentary Dakotah 38, and Phillip Noyce’s film Rabbit-Proof Fence, all cope with the on going struggles of being colonized against their will. All three of these sources tell their own, different stories about their same struggles. In both Things Fall Apart and Dakotah 38, the colonizing people create a sense of doubt in the Natives’ cultures; whereas in Rabbit-Proof Fence, the people fight to hold their beliefs by continuing to practice their own traditions.

Throughout history, many different cultures illustrate their history and their beliefs through various artistic objects that they create. These artifacts allow historians to better gage their lifestyle, their beliefs, and how their society operated. One example of this is the “Drum Beater” sculpting created by Karoo Ashevak that is especially famous for its illustrations of the shamans and the spirits. In this research paper, Karoo Ashevak’s “drum beater” will be dissected and analysed; from the Inuit culture itself, to the physical features of the sculpting, as well as the significance and symbolism of the sculpting as it relates to the Inuit culture.

The Tlingit Community House is an example of the totem of Tlingit (Frank, 2014). A symbolic of animal form that is laid out in a two-dimensional abstract pattern, with an extensive gently slanted roof, attractively painted façade (Frank, 2014). The flat surfaces of the Tlingit Community House show geometric shapes of beavers, bears, also whales, and ravens. Furthermore, the totem pole in the center contains stacked images that help a family are a clan to reminisce about their history back to mythological periods (Frank, 2014). Also, the Tlingit community house is characteristic of the art and style of that region (Frank, 2014). However, a totem is an object such as an animal or plant that operates as a symbol of a family or tribe (Frank,

Indigenous nations have always had their own ways governing their society. These ancient traditions were passed down to the future generations, even making it through the forces of colonialism. By saying that, it can be understood of the importance and significance it had and has to

This paper is an analysis of the single cultural artifact that best represents the culture in which I live in today. The paper will provide a detailed analysis of the artifact and how it relates to the values and beliefs of the culture. Additionally, it will address the deep cultural roots of the artifact, the historical roots of the artifact, what allowed it to come into being and who was affected by its development. This information will come as someone trained from the humanities.

To start off, a Natural History Museum is usually a place where the public can visit to obtain knowledge on the history of the earth and its inhabitants. Much about people’s culture and customs is found in a Natural History museum, especially people that have made a difference or played a role in history that we learn today. Therefore, the Indigenous peoples are represented in these precise museums. The indigenous people have various amount of customs that are even used today, however, the fact that many of their descriptions are led by the word “histor” or “ancient” almost makes the guests at museums believe that these indigenous people are no longer alive, and that is incorrect. The key objective for a Natural History museum is to simply help connect the understanding of human beings, connections based on culture, communities, to the earth and to each other. Precisely, The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles does not fully represent in depth the qualities that made the indigenous people so innovative, intelligent, and powerful; Therefore, the importance of the indigenous people is almost overshadowed by everything else that is presented at the museum. Overall, the indigenous people are represented here because of their

I selected a sculpture from the museum to analyze. The sculpture’s name is: Totem Pole. There was not one specific artist, instead there were several artists who helped create this piece of art. The Coosa Valley Woodcarving Club members worked together to carve this Totem Pole in 1985. The media used was wood and oil paints. The Totem Pole represents the many tribes of Native American tribes in this area. Meaning that the animals shown would represent different groups or tribes who are all a part of a close community. There are many elements of art that are visible with this sculpture. One element of art displayed is Line. There is a contrast of both regular and irregular lines where some regular lines are incorporated closely to irregular lines. This is shown on the wings of the bird towards the middle of the totem pole where the top of the wing is straight and the lines that are carved in a more vertical direction seem to look irregular due to the lines not being completely straight down. Irregular lines are used mainly here since the lines used look to be reflecting the wilderness of nature and

Politics within nations and communities influences the finding of art artifacts and the eventual explanation of the art artifacts because they decide who has the right to claim it. If an archeologist finds an artifact that belongs to a nation or community and has significance, then the archaeologist can’t claim it. This can cause archaeologists and art historians to feel a certain pressure within their research projects because they can’t retaliate if a community claims the artifact they’ve been researching and studying. However, when the rightful community claims the artifact, they may be able to add insight into the meaning of the artifact because it belongs to them so they may know more about

For the Native Americans’, claiming the land had a different meaning. They felt a more spiritual connection to the land. They believed in a concept called “personhood”. This was an idea that gave inanimate objects a sense of a personality. “Because objects has a personhood, they also had the right to own themselves” (Albers). For this reason, the

In the article “ Returning Antiquities to Their Countries of Origin” in paragraph one, sentence one through three, it talks about how people like to go to museums to enjoy the artifact. How they like to see how the ancient world was to better understand the culture, or to better understand their heritage. Although one can see why some may want to keep the artifacts in museums, instead of returning them to their natural origin; they are taking away the rightful countries opportunity to look at their past, and to get to know what it was like. One can see why some may think different; in conclusion, the artifacts need to be returned to their rightful

In this class, I was presented with an opportunity to reflect upon my personal knowledge of Indigenous

Each individual makes up the society as it is, and various characteristics and beliefs makes up an individual. Although, individual lives together with a variety of personal ideologies, emotions, cultures, and rituals, they all differentiate one person from the other making up one’s own identity. This identity makes up who one is inside and out, their behaviour, actions, and words comes from their own practices and values. However, the profound history of Indigenous people raises question in the present about their identities. Who are they really? Do we as the non-native people judge them from the outside or the inside? Regardless of whether the society or the government were involved in their lives, they faced discrimination in every