Main content
Course: Art of the Americas to World War I > Unit 5
Lesson 5: Northwest coast & Arctic- Tsimshian shaman’s rattle
- Reclaiming history, a Kwakwaka'wakw belt
- Transformation masks
- North Wind Mask
- Sea monster transformation mask
- Nuu-Chah-Nulth Mask Frontlet of the Wolf Dance
- Haida totem pole, from Old Kasaan
- Haida potlatch pole
- Bentwood Boxes of the Northwest Coast peoples
- Tlingit mortuary and memorial totem poles
- Proud Raven totem pole at Saxman Totem Park
- The story of the Oyster Man, a Tlingit totem pole
- The Chief Johnson Totem Pole
© 2024 Khan AcademyTerms of usePrivacy PolicyCookie Notice
The story of the Oyster Man, a Tlingit totem pole
The Saxman Totem Park houses the Oyster Man totem pole, a significant artifact of the Nexadi clan. This pole tells a tragic tale of a young man who disobeyed his elders and lost his life to a giant oyster. The pole, now laid to rest, serves as a reminder of the importance of respecting and learning from elders. Created by Smarthistory.
Video transcript
(bright jazz music) - [Teresa] We're here
at the Saxman Totem Park and we're standing in front
of the Oyster Man totem pole, which is actually no longer standing but has now been taken
down for safety reasons. - [Lauren] The Oyster Man
pole is one of the poles that belong to our Nexadi
clan, which I'm a part of. It's a very old pole that we have to help remind us of different things. It was raised to memorialize a young person that passed away, as well as to remind us to
listen to our aunties and uncles and those that are before us
so that we live a safe life. And to remind us that
when they teach us things it's always for a reason. So long time ago,
children was never taught by the aunties and uncles. The knowledge was never
forced on their children. It was something that they had to earn. That way the ones that are teaching them knew that they were maturely
ready to listen to it. They build that trust and
that respect that way. When we teach the younger ones, it it comes from the
matrilineal side of the family. So normally it's the
mother's brothers and sisters that teach the nieces and nephews. Within our clan system it's
not cousins that we have. It's always clan brothers
and clan sisters. So in this particular incidence there was some uncles
taking out some nephews to make sure that they were
taught how to gather octopus, clams, cockles, oysters,
fish, and seal, and deer all in the right manner to preserve it for the year to come for their families. They were testing their knowledge. And one of the younger ones decided to dig up a hole that he seen in the ground that squirted up at him. He started digging and the
tide was very low at the time. He decided to use his hand, which was something that his
uncles told him not to do. And as he was digging up
this food for his family his hand got clamped down
on by a giant oyster. The oyster continued to
hang onto this person's arm and he couldn't pull it out. He tried digging himself
out, but it didn't work. So he called for help,
and the people around him from his village area went down to try to help dig his arm out
and they couldn't do it 'cause the tide was coming in fast. Back then it was hard for one person to survive with one hand, because everybody had their own attributes that they put into their clan
families and their households. He didn't wanna cut off his arm, like they gave him the option to. So the ladies took a seal stomach that was already drying out and put it over his head and it had the intestines
coming out of the stomach. So in hope when the water
came up and covered his head it would help him breathe as
the ladies kept digging out. Unfortunately, the tide
kept coming up over his head and he wasn't able to
survive under the water for long duration of time,
therefore he passed away. - [Teresa] And looking at the pole we see imagery that is relating
to that specific story. - [Lauren] The clan crests
that you'll see on there belong to the Nexadi clan, but two things stick out
of the designs on the pole. One being at the very bottom is a circle with the face on it. And on one side of the
mouth, there's a hole. When the pole was standing,
there used to be a human figure squatting down with his
hand inside the pole which represented the young male that had his hand in the sand
inside the oyster's mouth. Right above that is the beaver. But on top of the
beaver's head is the face. What the elders said is that face is what represented the young
person that passed away. The other clan emblems are clan
crests that belonged to him. - [Teresa] We're seeing another
beaver and also an eagle. This totem pole used to be standing inside the main park at Saxman Totem Park, but was taken down for safety reasons and is now resting just on
the edge of the parking lot. But that was not where it was originally supposed to be resting
once it was taken down. - [Lauren] Before the newcomers came here, the way our people traditionally
laid a pole to rest was in the woods. So this was standing until
it was leaning so far that it was causing
possible danger or harm if it was to fall on somebody going by it. So the city of Saxman
decided to get permission from the clan and they took the pole down. They laid the pole to rest on
the side of the parking lot, so that way it would stay safe, but also honoring the tradition that the totem pole
goes back to the earth.. So from here, it'll
deteriorate and go back. The people that come here for the park they could see the craftsmanship and see the original pole in its state. (bright jazz music)