Poles LEVELEDLEVELED READER BOOK • •N A A Reading A–Z Level N Leveled Book Word Count: 659 TotemTotem PolesPoles

Written by Barbara A. Donovan

Visit www.readinga-z.com www.readinga-z.com for thousands of books and materials. Photo Credits: Front cover, back cover, title page, pages 4, 5: © ArtToday; pages 3, 6: © Jupiterimages Corporation; page 7: © Gunter Marx/QC/Alamy; page 8: © GeoMuse/Alamy; page 12: © Rich Reid/National Geographic Stock; page 13: © Hall Anderson/Ketchikan Daily News/AP Images; page 14: © James Poulson/Daily Sitka Sentinel/AP Images; page 15: © Edwin Verin/ Totem Poles Dreamstime.com

Written by Barbara A. Donovan Totem Poles Level N Leveled Book Correlation © Learning A–Z LEVEL N Written by Barbara A. Donovan Fountas & Pinnell M All rights reserved. Reading Recovery 20

www.readinga-z.com www.readinga-z.com DRA 28 Monuments of Cedar

Carving a bird from a block of wood is hard work, but imagine carving animals on a piece of wood as long as a tree trunk! Native peoples living along the Pacific coast of and Table of Contents have been doing just that for hundreds of Monuments of Cedar ...... 4 years. These carvings Totem Poles Speak ...... 5 are called totem poles.

Carving a Totem Pole ...... 12 ALASKA

Totem Poles Come Home ...... 15 CANADA

Glossary ...... 16 Totem poles are PACIFIC OCEAN made from cedar trees that can be as Index ...... 16 tall as 40 feet (12.2 m)

Totem Poles • Level N 3 4 Totem Poles Speak

Totem poles are carved in different styles and for different reasons. The figures carved on the poles have special meanings and help tell stories. Memorial poles describe someone’s life or a special The totem pole and painted housefront of the house event. Other totem at Totem Bight State Historic Park, Ketchikan, Alaska poles tell the Many houses have totem poles that history of a clan, or are part of the house itself. House family group, and poles are carved into the doorways, still others welcome on the outside corners, or on poles visitors. that support the roof. These poles show the wealth and status of the Each figure on a totem pole has its own meaning. family.

Totem Poles • Level N 5 6 Do You Know? This totem pole tells the legend of Whenever a totem pole is raised, a potlatch, or how Killer Whale clan took Black special ceremony, is held. In 1884, the government Bear for its crest, or special symbol. of passed a law making illegal, and most tribes stopped carving totem poles. But in 1951, the law was dropped and tribes began carving totem poles again. One day, a Hunter hunter went into Mortuary poles are like gravestones. the mountains The carvings on the pole honor the looking for life of a person who has died. They mountain goats. tell about important events and Black Bear Kind Man family relationships in the dead captured him person’s life. and brought the hunter to his den. Some totem poles The man lived Black Bear welcome visitors with Black Bear. to a village. These Although they are typically single Black Bear’s became friends, human form human figures. They the man missed are put near a beach his village. to show visitors that Totem pole at entrance to Van Dusen Gardens, , British they are welcome. Mortuary totem poles Columbia, Canada

Totem Poles • Level N 7 8 These illustrations show some of the most common figures you can see on totem poles.

Raven Bird with a straight beak Raven is a trickster who can change shape into almost everything—a bird, a human, or even a speck of dirt.

Bear After two years, Black Bear let the Round ears, many teeth man go home. By now, the man Bear is a caring, godlike creature that can change looked like a bear. The villagers ran from bear to human form. from him. Finally, one kind man rubbed medicine on the man’s body. Beaver Soon the man looked human again, Long front teeth, flat tail with crisscross lines and he took Black Bear as his crest. Beaver is a clever carver His friend Black Bear always whose powerful tail-slap protected the man’s family. can cause earthquakes or turn him invisible.

Totem Poles • Level N 9 10 Carving a Totem Pole Watchmen Crouching men with In the past, a clan would hire a very tall hats master carver to make a totem pole. Watchmen are human figures who can spot Today, many museums, businesses, danger from far away. and people around the world also want totem poles created for them. First, they hire a carver and work Curly feathers that look like horns with him or her to plan the pole. Thunderbird is one of the Native The carver finds a tree with no knots Americans’ most or bends. The carver cuts down the powerful spirits. tree, cuts off the branches, and hauls He causes thunder it to the workshop. Then the carver and lightning, and is large enough to catch chips away the soft outer wood. a whale in his talons.

Wolf Pointed ears, long snout, many sharp teeth Wolf is not friendly to humans, though it knows the secrets of healing. A man carves a totem pole in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Totem Poles • Level N 11 12 When the pole is ready, it is brought to the place where it will stand. A potlatch is held to celebrate the raising of the pole. There is feasting, dancing, singing, and gift giving, and the totem pole’s stories are Alaskan natives carve a totem pole. told. Prayers and Often, a team of carvers works on blessings may be the totem pole. The master carver said for the pole draws the designs on the log with and for the people charcoal. The master carver works who own it. Raising a totem pole on the bottom figure of the pole because this figure is the biggest Do You Know? and most important, and everyone You can see totem poles being carved at Saxman Native Village near Ketchikan, Alaska. The can see it up close. Helpers carve village was settled by Tlingit Indians in 1894. Today and paint other figures on the it is a small, independent community that has its own laws. Many visitors from all over the world go totem pole. Carving a big pole can there each year to see the village’s many beautiful take as long as nine months. totem poles and to watch carvers at work.

Totem Poles • Level N 13 14 Totem Poles Come Home Glossary carver (n.) person who carves a hard When European explorers came to material, such as wood the coast of Alaska and Canada in (p. 12) the 1800s, they were impressed by clan (n.) a family group (p. 5) the many totem poles they found. crest (n.) a symbol representing a clan’s history (p. 8) Many of the poles were taken away memorial totem poles that represent and ended up in museums. poles (n.) the memory of a person, place, thing, or event (p. 5) In 1990, the U.S. passed a law that mortuary totem poles that honor said native peoples poles (n.) dead people (p. 7) would be able to potlatch (n.) a ceremony to celebrate important events (p. 7) get back property totem poles (n.) wooden poles carved from that had been taken cedar by Pacific coast from them. Because natives (p. 4) of this law, many Index totem poles are bear, 8–10 Saxman Native returning to their carvers, 12–14 Village, 14 original homes and crest, 8 thunderbird, 11 to the people who potlatch, 7, 14 watchmen, 11 wolf, 11 created them. raven, 10

Totem Poles • Level N 15 16