First Totems Story

Each Haida pole has its own story but there is a story of the origin of all Haida poles

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Drawing of a group of people raising a totem pole
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Drawing of many people of a village

There were many of them at Git̓anḵ’a village. 

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Drawing of a man on the beach holding his hand up with the sun in the background

It was very calm. And it was also very sunny.

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Drawing of four people in a canoe in front of houses with totem poles

They looked at it for a long time. And they memorized it.

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Drawing of many people of a village

And when they got to Tl’uu sḵans (the crabapple patch at the end of the tree line at Née Kún), they talked about it.

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Drawing of a group of people raising a totem pole

They began to raise the carving.

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Drawing of a man and woman in canoe beside a beach

And they went to Daal ḵaahlii.

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Drawing of a man and pointing woman in a canoe

And while she was resting from paddling, this woman was looking in the water. And as she was looking in the water, she saw something that was carved, a long, log-like shape.

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Drawing of a man and woman in canoe beside a beach

When they finished memorizing it, they left.

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Drawing of three people in front of beach and water

“We will make copies of the carvings on the chief’s house,” some of them said. 

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Drawing of a man dressed as a thunderbird, a drummer and several men in a canoe

From there, when it was getting to be fall, they went food gathering to Nee Kun in two big canoes. They went on a berry picking trip.

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Drawing of a carved image

It was a carved image.

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Drawing of a man dressed as a thunderbird, a drummer and several men in a canoe

And when they were finished getting berries, they returned home by canoe.

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Drawing of two men carving a pole on the ground

People started carving them soon after.