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1700s when colonized
Europeans also brought over metal tools, which native canadians traded furs, fish, and other items for. these metal tools helped them carve big and better totem poles -
1700s
Totem poles orginated back from the late 1700's from the Haida Gwaii and then went to British Columbia. The Was Haida people, they were storytellers and came up with the idea to carve their stories into wooden poles. each one of the designs on the totem represents part of a story, it’s used as a way to record the history and legends of the tribes. overall the designs on the totem pole represent traits and characteristics each clan or story embodies. -
1800
The practice of creating totem poles became extremely popular on the west coast. Europeans started taking notice of the native culture. -
1867
The Indian act was passed, which stopped a lot of clans from being able to make totem poles, the totem poles made before this were abandoned to rot or destroyed. -
1880
Canada made the ceremony of potlatches illegal, practicing these would be disobeying the law and was punishable as a criminal offense -
1900
Most tribes stopped making totem poles after the law on potlatch was passed although some gathered in small gatherings to hold this ceremony in secret -
1927
A group of 45 individuals were arrested for holding a potlatch in celebration of a marriage. -
1930s
A lot of totem poles were STOLEN from native Canadians and displaced/appropriated by Europeans. The totem poles not founded over by the Europeans were encouraged to be destroyed/let to rot in wet climate. In 1937/38 the United States Forest Services created a service to renew the arts of native AMERICAN totem poles -
1951
The part of the indian act that included the potlatch was FINALLLY deleted -
1952
The first legal (under the law of the indian act) potlatch was held -
1952-2020
The native canadians have only continued on potlatches and totem tree craving even though it nearly died out. Today totem poles are seen as a big aspect of story telling and traditions telling through Native Canadians eyes. they have successfully reclaimed and relocated to the original places of origin in Canada where the totem poles originally stood