In 2012 the University of Puget Sound received fourteen model totem poles from the Kenneth McGill Family Collection. Carved between 1890 and 1950 for commercial trade, these poles represent Northwest First Nations Material Culture. They were collected by Edith and Dr. Charles McGill and their son Kenneth McGill. This collection of model totem poles encompasses several different tribes from the Pacific Northwest Coast, including the Tlingit and the Haida.
An excellent resource about model totem poles is the book: Carvings and Commerce: Model Totem Poles, 1880-2010 (E98. T65 H33 2011)
(Images below from left:)
- In addition to the model totem poles, from the Kenneth McGill Collection, is the Large Tlingit Totem (circa 1900).
- Standing Eagle Totem by Al Zantua. (Also displayed in the library)
Al Zantua worked as an art teacher in Chief Leschi Schools. This totem pole is made of red cedar wood and acrylic paint. It was originally a gift of the Union Board to the Wheelock Student Center. - Eagle Spirit Mask by Al Zantua (1992). (Also displayed in the library)
Red cedar & goat hair. This mask was a gift of the artist, dedicated to David Dobson, Dean of Students from 1983-1993.
Eagle Spirit Mask by Al Zantua (1992).
For more information on totem poles, visit the following web sites:
Resources on Totem Poles available at Collins Library:
- The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History
(E98 .T65 J66 2010) - Listening to Our Ancestors: The Art of Native Life Along the North Pacific Coast
(E78. N78 L58 2005) - Native Art of the Northwest Coast: A History of Changing Ideas
(E78 .N78 N37 2013)