I collect Native American postcards and have approximately 4000 featuring Indigenous peoples & cultures of the Americas, north to south. A portion of my research examines representation of Native culture in the media and I am interested in the educational use of postcards as Cultural & Public History/Anthropology. I have published on the history of Southern Plains Native cards; for a list of postcard reference books, see the bottom of this page.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Stanley Park poles
I purchased this card in a Canadian post office in Saskatoon. The carved poles, located in Stanley Park in British Columbia, are a common image for cards depicting Canadian Northwest Coast First Nations culture.
good question...the Northwest Coast culture area includes Oregon, Washington and Alaska here in the US as well as British Columbia in Canada. But I'm not sure how many cultures carved family crest poles or mortuary poles. Many US museums, including the Field Museum in Chicago, have poles in their collections.
Thanks. The objective is to ward off evil spirits? Something like that? Here we have the "carranca", but is not mortuary ... is just to bring luck (which may mean ward off evil spirits). There is sure to "carranca" is sourced from indigenous or African peoples ... http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carranca
most poles were expressions of family and clan crests; mortuary poles had a place for a box at the top to hold remains, similar to using a headstone in a cemetery or church burial yard to mark a burial
These carved poles also exist in the U.S.?
ReplyDeletegood question...the Northwest Coast culture area includes Oregon, Washington and Alaska here in the US as well as British Columbia in Canada. But I'm not sure how many cultures carved family crest poles or mortuary poles. Many US museums, including the Field Museum in Chicago, have poles in their collections.
ReplyDeleteThanks. The objective is to ward off evil spirits? Something like that? Here we have the "carranca", but is not mortuary ... is just to bring luck (which may mean ward off evil spirits). There is sure to "carranca" is sourced from indigenous or African peoples ...
ReplyDeletehttp://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carranca
most poles were expressions of family and clan crests; mortuary poles had a place for a box at the top to hold remains, similar to using a headstone in a cemetery or church burial yard to mark a burial
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I know little about the native Brazilians, but I believe they had habits like this. This is still done?
ReplyDelete