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totem poles

The Alaskan Totem Poles

November 17, 2015

We saw lots of cool totem poles while in Vancouver and Alaska. Totem poles are not religious in nature but tell the story of local families, the way they connect and their different rights within the family group. Sometimes they can be used to mock or berate a family...

New Zealand Maori Pouwhenua

October 11, 2013

Maori carvings tell a story, and we have a form of totem pole, called pou or pouwhenua here in New Zealand. They’re like carved poles and were used by the Maori to mark boundaries. Mr Munro snapped photos of these pou up at Paihia in the north of the North Island. I’m...