The Northwest Coast totem pole captivates the imagination. From the first descriptions of these tall carved monuments, totem poles have become central icons of the Northwest Coast region and symbols of its Native inhabitants. Although many of those who gaze at these carvings assume that they are ancient artifacts, the so-called totem pole is a relatively recent artistic development, one that has become immensely important to Northwest Coast people and has simultaneously gained a common place in popular culture from fashion to the funny pages. The Totem Pole reconstructs the intercultural history of the art form in its myriad manifestations from the eighteenth century to the present. Aldona Jonaitis and Aaron Glass analyze the totem pole's continual transformation since Europeans first arrived on the scene, investigate its various functions in different contexts, and address the significant influence of colonialism on the proliferation and distribution of carved poles. The authors also describe their theories on the development of the art form: its spread from the Northwest Coast to world's fairs and global theme parks; its integration with the history of tourism and its transformation into a signifier of place; the role of governments, museums, and anthropologists in collecting and restoring poles; and the part that these carvings have continuously played in Native struggles for control of their cultures and their lands. Short essays by scholars and artists, including Robert Davidson, Bill Holm, Richard Hunt, Nathan Jackson, Vickie Jensen, Andrea Laforet, Susan Point, Charlotte Townsend-Gault, Lyle Wilson, and Robin Wright, provide specific case studies of many of the topics discussed, directly illustrating the various relationships that people have with the totem pole. Errata: http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/books/Jonaitis_errata_24.pdf

The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History

Arts & Photography

Glass, Aaron

JONAITIS, Aldona

History & Criticism

University of Washington Press

The late nineteenth century was a period of rapid colonization and dramatic change for the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast of America. Objects of Exchange approaches the material culture of the period as visual evidence of shifting intercultural relations. Drawing on the collection of the American Museum of Natural History-from decorated clothing to containers, ceremonial regalia to trade goods-this book reveals the artistic traces of dynamic indigenous activity whereby objects were altered, repurposed, and adapted to meet the challenges of the time. Rather than treating the period as a climax of traditional art and culture, the authors suggest that we view its objects as witnesses to the dawn of an indigenous modernity. This remarkable book includes an intimate family portrait of the renowned Haida artist Charles Edenshaw; a discussion of the use of silver in economic and ceremonial contexts; and an exploration of the ways in which Tlingit women adapted be

Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformation on the Late Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast; Selections from the American Museum of Natural History

Bard Center

Writing the Hamat'sa: Ethnography, Colonialism, and the Cannibal Dance

Long known as the Cannibal Dance, the Hamat&#787;sa is among the most important hereditary prerogatives of the Kwakwa&#817;ka&#817;&#42892;wakw of British Columbia. Drawing on published texts, extensive archival research, and fieldwork, Writing the Hamat&#787;sa offers a critical survey of attempts to record, interpret, and prohibit the ceremony. Such textual mediation and Indigenous response over four centures helped transform the Hamat&#787;sa from a set of specific practices. into a generalized cultural icon. This meticulous work illuminates how Indigenous people contribute to, contest, and repurpose texts in the process of fashioning modern identities under settler colonialism.

Politics & Social Sciences

Anthropology

University of British Columbia Press

Product Description An exploration of the Hamatsa, a ritual dance of the Kwakwaka’wakw people of British Columbia. Despite settler attempts to eradicate the Hamat’sa, the “cannibal dance” remains an important prerogative of the Kwakwaka’wakw people. While generations of anthropologists sought to document the ceremony’s past, the Kwakwaka’wakw adapted and preserved its dramatic choreography and magnificent bird masks for the future.Writing the Hamat’sa offers a critical survey of efforts to record and interpret the ritual over the past four centuries. Drawing on close, contextualized reading of published texts, extensive archival research, and fieldwork, Aaron Glass goes beyond postcolonial critiques that often ignore Indigenous agency to show how the Kwakwaka’wakw have responded to an ethnographic legacy that helped transform specific performances into a broad cultural icon. The result is a fascinating study of how Indigenous peoples both contribute to and repurpose texts to shape modern identities under settler colonialism. Review “Aaron Glass explores the multifaceted history of the Hamatša dance from an intercultural, intertextual viewpoint, demonstrating how it has circulated in various contexts for more than a century. This extraordinary work is fundamentally an ethnography of anthropology itself.” -- Michael E. Harkin, University of Wyoming“Writing the Hamatša incorporates probably every single text ever published on what is famously known as the Cannibal Dance. This is one of the best contributions to Northwest Coast anthropology, to the history of anthropology, and to Franz Boas’s rendition of ethnographic data available today.” -- Marie Mauzé, Laboratoire d’anthropologie sociale, Collège de France Book Description Writing the Hamat̓sa critically surveys more than two centuries worth of published, archival, and oral sources to trace the attempted prohibition, intercultural mediation, and ultimate survival of one of Canada’s most iconic Indigenous ceremonies. About the Author Aaron Glass is an associate professor at the Bard Graduate Center, New York, coauthor of The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History, and director of the documentary In Search of the Hamatša: A Tale of Headhunting.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Glass, Aaron. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Glass, Aaron

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Glass, Aaron. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Totem Pole: An Intercultural History

Objects of Exchange: Social and Material Transformation on the Late Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast; Selections from the American Museum of Natural History

Writing the Hamat'sa: Ethnography, Colonialism, and the Cannibal Dance

Writing the Hamat'sa: Ethnography, Colonialism, and the Cannibal Dance