Name/Title
Totem Pole [Man with a Paddle]Entry/Object ID
2018.03.03Description
Painting
This darker ochre-coloured image of a totem pole on a lighter yellow ochre background depicts a seated man above another figure. The man is holding a paddle with an asymmetric curlicue handle and decorative blade tip. The painting depicts part of a totem pole, a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of monumental carved poles, posts or pillars. They can symbolize characters and events in mythology, or convey experiences of recent ancestors or living people. This totem pole may be Haida First Nation, people who traditionally occupy Haida Gwaii, an archipelago off the B.C. coast.Artwork Details
Medium
Watercolour on paperSubject Place
Region
Pacific NorthwestContinent
North AmericaContext
The word 'totem' comes from Ojibwa, an Algonquian language spoken by First Nations around Lake Superior, for the word 'odoodem' or 'ototeman'. Specifically, totem refers to an emblematic depiction of an animal, plant or being that gives a family or clan its name and serves as a reminder of its ancestry.
The original totem poles were created by six First Nations of the Pacific Northwest: the Haida, the Nuxalt, the Kwakwaka'wakw, the Tlingit, the Tsimshian and the Coast Salish. These totem poles are carved and painted monumental poles (or posts or pillars) that feature different symbols or figures (birds, frogs, bears, people, supernatural beings and sea creatures). There are seven types of poles (memorials, grave markers, house posts, portal house poles, welcoming poles, mortuary poles and ridicule or shame poles). Similar to other forms of heraldry, they may function as crests of families or chiefs, recount stories owned by those families or chiefs, commemorate special occasions and more. The poles are usually made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, and their stories are usually read from the bottom of the pole to the top.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Mary E. Cameron (1915-2009)Role
PainterDate made
1976Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, Mary E. Cameron (née Botchett) was a Canadian artist who appears to have worked mainly in watercolour. She completed her schooling in Winnipeg, and was then employed at Stovel Printing Co., the largest and oldest commercial printing firm in the city, also considered the most progressive. She moved to Vancouver with her husband in 1947 where she continued work in the printing business at Grant-Mann Lithographers Ltd. until her retirement.
Cameron exhibited her artwork in four of the B.C. annual Artists Exhibitions plus the Stanley Park Exhibition all held at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the last being the 19th Annual Exhibition in 1950 chaired by Canadian Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris (1885-1970). Her work, identified to date, carefully documents totems, buildings and villages of the Northwest Coast and First Nations people, such as the Haida and Kwakiutl on Vancouver Island, nearby islands and the adjacent mainland.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
Signature, DateLocation
Lower right behind mat: MARY CAMERON 76Dimensions
Dimension Description
Visible imageHeight
16.5 cmWidth
10.2 cmRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
By Mary E. Cameron:
2018.03.01 Housepost (Kwakiutl)
2018.03.02 Haida Bear Totem Pole
2018.03.03 Totem Pole
2018.03.04 Beaver Harbour Village, Fort Rupert
2018.03.05 Sketch of Totem Pole
2018.03.06 Kwakiutl Village, about 1941
