Ceramic Totem Poles (Part 2)

Totem poles are not idols nor objects to ward off evil spirits. They are stories told with symbols. They may honor a family, commemorate a life, or,  they are may be used to shame someone (say a CEO or ambassador) for wrong doing.  The poles are carved from tall cedar trees from the Oregon and Washington all the way through British Columbia to Alaska.

To read a totem pole, one must know the meaning behind each animal.  A wolf is a symbol of loyalty and intelligence, a frog represents wealth and good health. Salmon symbolize determination and perseverance. Killer whales are powerful and can offer food and help to tribe leaders. An owl is wise and may symbolize a deceased family member. A bear is strong and was believed to teach people how to fish and gather berries.

My high school students used slabs of clay to wrap around cardboard rolls and create their own totem poles. I encouraged a lot wiggle room for the shrinkage that comes from drying, so the tube could be removed. After a bisque firing, they each glazed their animals.  For the students who did every animal separately, we hot glued the pieces together afterwards, and it seemed to work pretty well. (Time will tell how long it will hold).  These ended up being a little over a foot in height, which was about twice as tall as the mini poles that the younger students made. We were so excited to pull them out of the kiln yesterday it was fun to see them standing side by side.

Dream Catchers Craft

Dream catchers were originally used by the Ojibwa people before they were adopted by other Native American Nations. This woven hoop is to be hung over the bed to catch the bad dreams like a spider catches a fly in her web. The good dreams trickle down through the ribbons and feathers to gently land on the head of the sleeper.

One of my students requested that I assign this project, and i was happy to oblige. i didn't have time to order metal hoops, so we just used some basket weaving supplies, and made our hoops out of reed, wrapping yarn around the outside, and occasionally gluing to make a circle.

We used twine or yarn to tie on the side of the circle and then make stretch it loosely 1/8 of the way around the hoop and loop it around again. After 8 loops, you've got a circle, with an octagon of string. Without cutting and tying, continue around, looping in the middle of each side of the octagon. As the string is pulled snuggly, the straight sides point in. Continue looping inward layer after layer until you reach almost the center. A bead can be added before knotting the end of the string. This is symbolic of the spider in the web.

Three or Four long ribbons can each be folded in half on one side of the hoop, and the ends of each ribbon wrap around and go through the half way fold to make a little hitch. Ribbons can be beaded and then feathers glued onto the end. The beads should pull down over the glued ends for a nicer finish.

Here's to catching the best of dreams and making them come true in this new year!