Editing Totem pole (section)

==Cultural property==
Each culture typically has complex rules and customs regarding the traditional designs represented on poles. The designs are generally considered the property of a particular clan or family group of traditional carvers, and this ownership of the designs may not be transferred to the person who has commissioned the carvings. There have been protests when those who have not been trained in the traditional carving methods, cultural meanings and protocol, have made "fake totem poles" for what could be considered crass public display and commercial purposes.<ref name=ICTMN>{{cite web|title=Oregon Country Fair Cancels Fake Native Totem Pole Raising – Ritz Sauna story pole 'worst appropriation I've ever seen' says descendant of carving family|last=Hopper|first=Frank|publisher =[[Indian Country Media Network]] | date=25 May 2017 |url=https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/news/native-news/oregon-country-fair-cancels-fake-native-totem-pole-raising|access-date=12 September 2017}}</ref> The [[cultural appropriation|misappropriation]] of coastal Pacific Northwest culture by the art and tourist trinket market has resulted in production of cheap imitations of totem poles executed with little or no knowledge of their complex stylistic conventions or cultural significance. These include imitations made for commercial and even comedic use in venues that serve alcohol, and in other settings that are insensitive or outright offensive to the sacred nature of some of the carvings.<ref name=ICTMN/>

In the early 1990s, the [[Haisla people|Haisla]] First Nation of the Pacific Northwest began a lengthy struggle to repatriate the [[G'psgolox totem pole|Gʼpsgolox totem pole]] from [[Museum of Ethnography, Sweden|Sweden's Museum of Ethnography]].<ref name=Sun>{{Citation| title =Back in Pole Position| newspaper =Vancouver Sun| date =27 April 2006| url =http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=1c06837d-416d-4eff-87b3-d83a62596924&k=48109&p=1| access-date =4 May 2010| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090228110228/http://www2.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=1c06837d-416d-4eff-87b3-d83a62596924&k=48109&p=1| archive-date =28 February 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite press release  | title = G'psgolox Totem returnS To British Columbia  | publisher = The Na Na Kila Institute  | date = 26 April 2006  | url = http://www.nanakila.ca/  | access-date = 4 May 2010  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100913084518/http://nanakila.ca/  | archive-date = 2010-09-13  | url-status = dead  }}</ref> Their successful efforts were documented in [[Gil Cardinal]]'s [[National Film Board of Canada]] documentary, ''Totem: The Return of the G'psgolox Pole''.<ref>{{cite web | title =Totem: The Return of the Gʼpsgolox Pole| publisher =National Film Board of Canada  | date =8 April 2013 | url =http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/our-collection/?idfilm=51162|access-date=3 December 2014}}</ref>

In October 2015, a Tlingit totem pole was returned from Hawaii to Alaska after being taken from a village by Hollywood actor [[John Barrymore]] in 1931.<ref>{{cite web |title=Totem pole taken by Hollywood actor returned to Alaska, 84 years later |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/alaska-totem-pole-returned-1.3284649 |website=cbc.ca |access-date=22 March 2024}}</ref>