Editing Totem pole (section)

== Types ==
There are six basic types of upright, pole carvings that are commonly referred to as "totem poles"; not all involve the carving of what may be considered "totem" figures: house frontal poles, interior house posts, mortuary poles, memorial poles, welcome poles, and the ridicule or shame pole.<ref>Feldman, pp. 12–13.</ref>

===House frontal poles===
This type of pole, usually {{convert|20|to|40|ft|m|abbr=on|0}} tall<ref name=Newman16>Newman, p. 16.</ref> is the most decorative. Its carvings tell the story of the family, clan or village who own them. These poles are also known as heraldic, crest, or family poles. Poles of this type are placed outside the clan house of the most important village leaders. Often, watchman figures are carved at the top of the pole to protect the pole owner's family and the village. Another type of house frontal pole is the entrance or doorway pole, which is attached to the center front of the home and includes an oval-shaped opening through the base that serves as the entrance to the clan house.<ref name=Feldman12>Feldman, p. 12.</ref>

===House posts===
These interior poles, typically {{convert|7|to|10|ft|m|abbr=on|0}} in height, are usually shorter than exterior poles.<ref name=Newman16/> The interior posts support the roof beam of a clan house and include a large notch at the top, where the beam can rest.<ref name=Feldman12/> A clan house may have two to four or more house posts, depending on the cultural group who built it. Carvings on these poles, like those of the house frontal poles, are often used as a storytelling device and help tell the story of the owners' family history.<ref name=Newman19>Newman, p. 19.</ref><ref name=Feldman13>Feldman, p. 13.</ref> House posts were carved by the [[Coast Salish]] and were more common than the free-standing totem poles seen in Northern cultural groups.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barbeau |first=Marius |date=1950 |title=Totem Poles |location=National Museum of Canada |publisher=Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery, Ottawa, Canada |pages=759–61 }}</ref>

===Mortuary pole===
The rarest type of pole carving is a mortuary structure that incorporates grave boxes with carved supporting poles. It may include a recessed back to hold the grave box. These are among the tallest and most prominent poles, reaching {{convert|50|to|70|ft|m|abbr=on}} in height.<ref name=Newman19/> The Haida and Tlingit people erect mortuary poles at the death of important individuals in the community. These poles may have a single figure carved at the top, which may depict the clan's crest, but carvings usually cover its entire length. Ashes or the body of the deceased person are placed in the upper portion of the pole.<ref name=Feldman13/>

===Memorial pole===
This type of pole, which usually stands in front of a clan house, is erected about a year after a person has died. The clan chief's memorial pole may be raised at the center of the village.<ref name=Newman19/> The pole's purpose is to honor the deceased person and identify the relative who is taking over as his successor within the clan and the community. Traditionally, the memorial pole has one carved figure at the top, but an additional figure may also be added at the bottom of the pole.<ref name=Feldman13/>

Memorial poles may also commemorate an event. For example, several memorial totem poles were erected by the [[Tlingit]]s in honor of Abraham Lincoln, one of which was [[Saxman Totem Park|relocated to Saxman]], Alaska, in 1938.<ref>Garfield and Forrest, p. 55.</ref> The Lincoln pole at Saxman commemorates the end of hostilities between two rival Tlingit clans and symbolizes the hope for peace and prosperity following the American occupation of the Alaskan territory.<ref>Garfield and Forrest, p. 54.</ref> The story begins in 1868, when the United States government built a customs house and fort on [[Tongass Island]] and left the US revenue cutter ''Lincoln'' to patrol the area. After American soldiers at the fort and aboard the ''Lincoln'' provided protection to the Tongass group against its rival, the Kagwantans, the Tongass group commissioned the Lincoln pole to commemorate the event.<ref>Barbeau, "Totem Poles: According to Crests and Topics", pp. 402–405.</ref><ref>Garfield and Forrest, pp. 54–55.</ref>

===Welcome pole===
Carved by the Kwakwaka'wakw (Kwakiutl), Salish and Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) people, most of the poles include large carvings of human figures, some as tall as {{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on}}.<ref>Newman, p. 21.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yvr.ca/en/about-yvr/art/musqueam-welcome-area|title=Musqueam Welcome Area}}</ref> Welcome poles are placed at the edge of a stream or saltwater beach to welcome guests to the community, or possibly to intimidate strangers.<ref name=Feldman13/><ref>Wherry, p. 104.</ref><ref>Newman, p. 22.</ref>

===Shame/ridicule pole===
Poles used for public ridicule are usually called shame poles, and were created to embarrass individuals or groups for their unpaid debts or when they did something wrong.<ref name=Feldman13/><ref name=Keithahn>{{Cite book | author=Edward Keithahn | title = Monuments in Cedar | publisher = Superior Publishing Co. | year = 1963 | location =Seattle, Washington | page= 56 | url = http://www.alaskool.org/projects/traditionalife/monumentsincedar/MIC_three.htm }}</ref> The poles are often placed in prominent locations and removed after the debt is paid or the wrong is corrected. Shame pole carvings represent the person being shamed.<ref name=Feldman13/><ref>Sheldon Jackson Museum, Sitka, AK. Accessed 23 August 2011</ref> 
[[File:Top of Seward Pole.jpg|right|thumb|The original Seward Pole, carved {{Circa|1885}}, shamed [[William H. Seward]]]]
One famous shame pole is the Seward Pole at the [[Saxman Totem Park]] in [[Saxman, Alaska]]. Originally carved in the {{Circa|1885}}, the pole shamed former U.S. Secretary of State [[William H. Seward]] for his "lack of recognition of Indigenous peoples at an early point in Alaska’s U.S. history," as well as not reciprocating the generosity of his Tlingit hosts following an 1869 [[potlatch]] given in his honor.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2018-02-13 |title=The Seward Shame Pole: Countering Alaska’s Sesquicentennial - Alaska Historical Society |url=https://alaskahistoricalsociety.org/about-ahs/special-projects/150treaty/150th-resource-library/new-articles/the-seward-shame-pole-countering-alaskas-sesquicentennial/ |access-date=2023-08-24 |language=en-US}}</ref> The figure's red-painted nose and ears may symbolize drunkenness or Seward's stinginess.<ref>Garfield and Forrest, pp. 55–56.</ref><ref>Kramer, ''Alaska’s Totem Poles'', p. 10.</ref> In the 1940s, a second iteration of the pole was built by Tlingit men enrolled in the [[Civilian Conservation Corps]]; according to the [[Alaska Historical Society]], the United States government was unaware that the pole's intent was to shame Seward until after the completion of the project.<ref name=":0" /> In 2014, this second pole began to fall apart; a renewed version was carved in 2017 by local Tlingit artist Stephen Jackson, who combined [[Political cartoon|political caricature]] with [[Northwest Coast art|Northwest Coast]] style.<ref name=":0" />

Another example of the shame pole is the Three Frogs pole on [[Chief Shakes]] Island, at [[Wrangell, Alaska]]. This pole was erected by Chief Shakes to shame the Kiks.ádi [[clan]] into repaying a debt incurred for the support of three Kiks.ádi women who were allegedly cohabiting with three slaves in Shakes's household. When the Kiks.ádi leaders refused to pay support for the women, Shakes commissioned a pole with carvings of three frogs, which represented the crest of the Kiks.ádi clan. It is not known if the debt was ever repaid.<ref>Barbeau, "Totem Poles: According to Crests and Topics", p. 401.</ref> The pole stands next to the Chief Shakes Tribal House in Wrangell. The pole's unique crossbar shape has become popularly associated with the town of Wrangell, and continues to be used as part of the ''Wrangell Sentinel'' newspaper's masthead.<ref>{{cite web| title=Wrangell Sentinel|publisher =Wrangell Sentinel | date =21 November 2014 |url=http://www.wrangellsentinel.com/|access-date=21 November 2014}}</ref>

In 1942, the U.S. Forest Service commissioned a pole to commemorate [[Alexander Andreyevich Baranov|Alexander Baranof]], the Russian governor and Russian American Company manager, as a civilian works project. The pole's original intent was to commemorate a peace treaty between the Russians and Tlingits that the governor helped broker in 1805. George Benson, a Sitka carver and craftsman, created the original design. The completed version originally stood in Totem Square in downtown [[Sitka, Alaska]].<ref name=Haugland>{{Citation | author =Shannon Haugland | title = Totem Square, Pole to get Safety Upgrades | newspaper = [[Sitka Sentinel]] | date = 21 September 2010 }} {{subscription required}}</ref><ref name=Sutton-USA>{{cite journal | author=Anne Sutton | title = Top man on totem pole could get his clothes back | journal =USA Today | publisher =Gannett Co. | date =7 June 2008| url =http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-07-3923207711_x.htm| access-date =3 December 2014}}</ref> When Benson and other Sitka carvers were not available to do the work, the U.S. Forest Service had [[Civilian Conservation Corps|CCC]] workers carve the pole in Wrangell, Alaska. Because Sitka and Wrangell native groups were rivals, it has been argued that the Wrangell carvers may have altered Benson's original design.<ref name=Sutton-USA/><ref name=JPoulsen>{{Citation | title = 'Going Down' photo caption | newspaper = [[Sitka Sentinel]] | date = 20 October 2010   
 }}. {{subscription required}}</ref> For unknown reasons, the Wrangell carvers depicted the Baranov figure without clothes.<ref name=Sutton>{{Citation| author =Anne Sutton| title =Top man on totem pole could get his clothes back| newspaper =[[Anchorage Daily News]]| date =8 June 2008| url =http://www.adn.com/life/native_culture/story/430035.html| access-date =8 December 2009| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090428182322/http://www.adn.com/life/native_culture/story/430035.html| archive-date =28 April 2009}}</ref> Following a [[Sitka Tribe of Alaska]]-sponsored removal ceremony, the pole was lowered due to safety concerns on October 20, 2010, using funds from the Alaska Dept. of Health and Social Services. The ''Sitka Sentinel'' reported that while standing, it was "said to be the most photographed totem [pole] in Alaska".<ref name=Haugland/> The pole was re-erected in Totem Square in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alaskapublic.org/2011/11/30/controversial-totem-pole-returns-to-sitka-square/ |title=Controversial Totem Pole Returns to Sitka Square |last=Ronco |first=Ed |date=November 30, 2011 |website=Alaska Public Media }}</ref>

On March 24, 2007, a shame pole was erected in [[Cordova, Alaska]], that includes the inverted and distorted face of former [[Exxon]] CEO [[Lee Raymond]]. The pole represents the unpaid debt of $5 billion in punitive damages that a federal court in [[Anchorage, Alaska]], determined Exxon owes for its role in causing the [[Exxon Valdez oil spill]] in [[Prince William Sound]].<ref>{{Citation | title = Shame Pole Mocking Exxon is Planted in Cordova | newspaper = [[Anchorage Daily News]] | date = 25 March 2007 }}</ref><ref name=Rothberg>{{Citation | author =Peter Rothberg  | title = Exxon's Shame | newspaper = [[The Nation]]  | date = 27 March 2007 | url = http://www.thenation.com/blogs/exxons-shame | access-date =21 November 2014}}</ref>