Totem poles are tree sculptures traditionally associated with the First Nations communities of the Pacific northwest coast, and primarily centered around the Haida communities of the Queen Charlotte Islands off the west coast of British Columbia.

From the mid-1800's well into the 1900's totem pole carving, along with just about every other vestige of First Nations culture, was systematically surpressed by the government. Fortunately, there is, today, a renewed interest in the history, construction and maintenance of totem poles.

"Carve Your Own Totem Pole" is one of the few books available that take the reader through the process of designing and carving a totem pole.

The first few pages provide a brief introduction to the history of totem poles, and presents some of the basic designs found on traditional poles.

The bulk of the book takes a non-nonsense approach to carving totems, providing clear, concise instructions amplified with copious photos and illustrations. The authors do a good job of showing you how to apply your design to a two dimensional surface, and give several easy enough projects to practice on.

Unfortunately, there are, to my mind, a lot of shortcomings in this book. The section on "Sharpening" has photos showing freehand sharpening of chisels without a tool rest, a technique I would definitely not recommend,  particularly to novice carvers. The authors also recommend using two wheels on a bench grinder, but don't suggest which grits to use. The section on "Knife Work" recommends the use of a utility knife. The crooked knife and hand adze are barely mentioned. An oversight I think. The section on "Selecting Your Wood" focuses on the traditional wood - cedar. There is no mention of other woods, which for readers who live in areas where cedar is not readily available might beg the question "What other woods are suitable for totem pole carving?" The authors tell us that a pole with heart rot through the middle is no good for a totem pole. However, is this consistent with the practice of traditional carvers? Perhaps not. We are also told that "All poles need a stress cut in the back to ensure the pole doesn't split as the wood dries." There is no mention of a traditional Haida approach to hollow out the back of the log. Finally, there is no index, nor resource listing, and nary a mention of additional reading on First Nations totem culture or carvers.

In the section "West Coast mask" I was a little uncomfortable with the statement that " ... when you're done this project, you'll have your first piece of carved Native art..." Won't you have a piece of carved 'Native style' art?

These shortcomings aside, if you are looking to carve our own totem pole then this book does provide the techniques you need.

Table of Contents: