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Christina Craft | profile | all galleries >> Other Galleries >> Haida and Tlingit Totem Art tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Haida and Tlingit Totem Art

Biography of professional, trained photographer Christina Craft in Victoria, B.C. Canada - Christina is an award-winning wildlife and nature photographer Professional Wedding Photographer in Victoria, B.C. custom photography - commercial photography servcies in victoria, b.c. Nature Stock Photography Library - wildlife photography and travel photorapher based in Victoria, British Columbia, award-winning animal photos, wildlife photos, wildlife stock libraryChristina Craft is a professional photographer based in Victoria. She is a wildlife photography specialist and also does weddings, commercial photography and travel photography
These photographs show Haida and Tlingit totem art and carvings from Victoria, the Queen Charlotte Islands and Haines, Alasaka. The west coast is rich in Haida and Tlingit art; however, most of the totems you'll find in villages and towns were created within the last 50 years or so, even though aboriginal communities have lived and carved on the west coast for time immemorable. European settlers believed totems were heathen and destroyed most of them in British Columbia -- as a result, very few original totems remain. There are a few villages along the Queen Charlotte Islands where you will find the remains of some old Haida villages. The villages were abandoned in the late 1800s reduced the Haida population from about 10,000 to a mere 300 (one European man landed on Charlotte soil *knowingly* carrying small pox). After the outbreak, the Haida moved to the northern parts of the islands in towns like Massett and Skidegate. Most poles are raised at a ceremony called a potlatch, where the family presented gifts to everyone attending. A family would have to accumulate great wealth in order to hold a potlatch - and wealth was shown by "giving away" rather than "accumulating" possessions. Memorial totems (many of which housed the dead) would be left to rot and naturally succum to the earth -- all part of the reincarnation beliefs of the Haida people. Unfortunately, many totems (in effect tombs) were exported/imported to museums around the world. The Haida are now asking for repatriation and a return of their ancestor's bones. Haida representatives recently went to Chicago and reclaimed bones from the musuem there. The Canadian government and Haida nation are now in the process of buildling a $20 million museum to house Haida artifacts on the Queen Charlotte Islands.
August 28: 2:00 p.m.
August 28: 2:00 p.m.
Old Massett, Queen Charlotte Islands
Old Massett, Queen Charlotte Islands
9-3.jpg
9-3.jpg
September 3 - 8:53 a.m.
September 3 - 8:53 a.m.
Bill Reid Pole - Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands
Bill Reid Pole - Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands
Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands
Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands
Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands
Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands
Queen Charlotte Islands
Queen Charlotte Islands
Carving Studio in Haines, Alaska
Carving Studio in Haines, Alaska
Tlingit carving studio in Haines, Alaska
Tlingit carving studio in Haines, Alaska
Haines, Alaska
Haines, Alaska
Haines, Alaska
Haines, Alaska
Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands
Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands
Old Massett, Queen Charlotte Islands
Old Massett, Queen Charlotte Islands
Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands
Skidegate, Queen Charlotte Islands
Abandoned Village of Skedans, Queen Charlotte Islands
Abandoned Village of Skedans, Queen Charlotte Islands
Abandoned Village of Skedans, Queen Charlotte Islands
Abandoned Village of Skedans, Queen Charlotte Islands
Abandoned Village of Skedans, Queen Charlotte Islands
Abandoned Village of Skedans, Queen Charlotte Islands
April 27 - 8:33 a.m.
April 27 - 8:33 a.m.
February 23 - 1:36 p.m.
February 23 - 1:36 p.m.
February 16 - 12:45 p.m.
February 16 - 12:45 p.m.
January 6 - 1:02 p.m.
January 6 - 1:02 p.m.