Clear, step-by-step drawings and easy-to-follow directions teach you how to carve full-size or in miniature the majestic totem poles and masks of the Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest.

Totem Poles and Masks: Art of the Northwest Coast Tribes is aligned to the Common Core State Standards for English/Language Arts, addressing Literacy.RI.3.3 and Literacy.L.3.1a. Readers will explore different Native American tribes of the Pacific Northwest, gaining an understanding of their art and its importance to their culture. This book should be paired with “Native American Art of the Northwest Coast" (9781477726525) from the InfoMax Common Core Readers Program to provide the alternative point of view on the same topic.

A well-illustrated guidebook that includes the history of totem-pole carving and its West Coast native tradition, and instructions and ideas on how to design and carve a totem-pole as either a traditional design or in a personal folk-art motif.

Clear, step-by-step drawings and easy-to-follow directions teach you how to carve full-size or in miniature the majestic totem poles and masks of the Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest.

Magnificent and haunting, the tall cedar sculptures called totem poles have become a distinctive symbol of the native people of the Northwest Coast. The powerful carvings of the vital and extraordinary beings such as Sea Bear, Thunderbird and Cedar Man are impressive and intriguing. In Looking at Totem Poles, Hilary Stewart describes the various types of poles, their purpose, and how they were carved and raised. She also identifies and explains frequently depicted figures and objects. Each pole, shown in a beautifully detailed drawing, is accompanied by a text that points out the crests, figures and objects carved on it. Historical and cultural background are given, legends are recounted and often the carver’s comments or anecdotes enrich the pole’s story. Photographs put some of the poles into context or show their carving and raising.

Identifies and summarizes thousands of books, article, exhibition catalogues, government publications, and theses published in many countries and in several languages from the early nineteenth century to 1981.