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Most totem artisans agree that truly authentic poles have no extra preservatives applied to them. Some people choose to treat the wood by waterproofing or staining it. It isn't realistic to expect a wooden creation to survive nature's harsh elements for much longer than that. A totem pole is generally expected to last about a hundred years. The process takes even longer if the pole is carved without power tools or chainsaws, as so many of the authentic totems are.īecause totem poles are wooden, they're organic works of art. According to Steve Benson, totem carver and president of the Wood Age, a 20-foot pole can take four to six weeks to make. Traditional colors include black, white, red, yellow and blue-green. Totems are often painted, although they don't have to be.

Authentic totem poles are made from red or yellow cedar and aren't carved with chain saws or other power tools.

Totem poles can range in size from as short as one foot to well over a hundred feet tall, although shorter poles are more common. What do the symbols on totem poles mean? How long does it take to make a totem pole? And why does a custom-made totem cost nearly as much as a new car?

Interestingly enough, Europeans even tagged the art form with the name "totem poles." Thus, totems grew from the size of a walking cane to the towering works of art that we have come to know and enjoy. They brought sophisticated metal tools with them that made it much easier for American Indian carvers to practice their art on larger pieces of wood. īut Europeans actually brought about an increase in totem production. British captain James Cook described them as "truly monstrous figures". This gave rise to many myths about totem poles. Since totems were nothing like they'd ever seen before, the settlers could only guess what these strange objects were for. When European settlers first laid eyes on totem poles in the 1700s, they were a little frightened. Totem poles became much more common after Europeans came to the New World.

Archaeologists also believe that, while totem poles as we know them today didn't start being carved until the late 1700s, the same images and stories that they depict existed for hundreds (or possibly thousands) of years on smaller objects, like combs and masks.