DCHP-1

totem pole

among certain West Coast Indian tribes, a pole, often a standing tree trunk, which has been carved and painted with the family crests, personal exploits, etc. of the owner.
See also: house-post totem (def. 3) totem post
- 1808 (1960) [Upon the boards and posts are carved beasts and birds, in a curious but rude manner, yet pretty well proportioned.]
- 1890 The rank of the chiefs is denoted by the height of their totem poles, and there are frequent quarrels among them on the subject.
- 1940 Totem poles are not, as is commonly supposed, pagan gods or demons.
- 1964 One well-known authority . . . believes that much of what is commonly believed to be aboriginal in coast Indian culture, such as the clan system, the use of crests, and the carving of totem poles, did not exist before the time of contact, but was in a sense a product of the fur trade.