Awareness of the outside world. Ketchikan Museums: Totem Heritage Center Exhibits. Description, Alaska.org: Totem Heritage Center. Also mentioned, Alaska DNR: Totem Bight State Historical Park and Alaska.org: Saxman Village Totem Park.
~~~
When I was kid,
We had apartment cats.
Orange, tuxedo, tabby, purry, furry.
The beginning of a soft parade.
Of the rest of my life.
When I was a teen
I was a barn rat.
Riding, brushing, watching, feeding, hanging out.
She’ll grown out of it.
Or not.
With the husband,
came the dogs.
Low Bassets and tall Shepherds
I became a dog person.
Expanding the furry parade.
Process Notes
Just finished ettending UChicago Graham School, Alaska: Indigenous, Russian, American.
We had an assignment to draw a totem pole. Since I can’t draw in the slightest, I went with lettering instead. I call this Totem Pets. Cats on the bottom because they came first. Then horses. Then dogs.
When I sent it in, the professor asked if I wanted to tell a story to go with it. Eeep? I wrote it out b/c no way was I saying it for the first time aloud during class.
Cultural Appropriation vs Cultural Appreciation
What is cultural appropriation? What is cultural appreciation?
Con. “Borrowing the aethetics” ie drawing pretty pictures. Certainly. Emerging Voices: Cultural appropriation: Crossing the line, Cruickshank.
Listening to a handful of lectures while living almost 3,000 miles away does not grant me deep insight into Alaska or the people who live there. “Distance from Birmingham to Juneau is 4,464 kilometers. This air travel distance is equal to 2,774 miles.” DistanceFromTo: Distance from Birmingham to Juneau.
Pro. Honoring the culture. Totem poles record notable events. What could I record? Animals certainly qualify as notable in my life. I modeled the style on what little I have read of Northern tales.
In other news, the expression ‘Low man on the totem pole’ is inaccurate. “The figures at the base are, contrary to the colloquialism, the most significant.” ICTInc: Debunking Misconceptions About First Nation Totem Poles, 2018. From a Canadian training company.
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
The poems are delightful!
And so is the totem.
Louise
This was a really fascinating post. I already knew a couple of the items discussed in your links – like the most important figure in the totem pole is the most important. I’ve pretty much thought about it like this because that figure is the foundation, and without a good foundation, the structure above would collapse.
I like your poem, and your personal totem. Which would make a really cool T-shirt design. Now I am inspired to create a personal totem. For me it would be dogs, horses, cats. I’ve always liked cats, although not as much as dogs, but never really had any interaction with them until I got to the barn. Lots of barn cats. My particular favorites were K.B., Odie, and Ghost.
Thank you. Definitely something I would not have done without the assignment.