Chief Lelooska's Elk Point totem
Not the best photo but the best I could do when I took it on a rainy day a couple years ago.
Since 1992 there has been a movement to rename and replace the federally sanctioned Columbus Day as Indigenous People's Day. This movement is the result of Columbus's negative legacy. Presently four states do not celebrate Columbus day. Those states are Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon and South Dakota -- South Dakota calls the day Native American Day.
When I recently learned of Indigenous People's Day I thought of Chief Lelooska, the native American carver that carved a large totem around 1959 to 1961 for Elk Point near Twilliger Parkway in Portland, Oregon
The Smithsonian identified the animals represented on the Haida-style totem pole as follows starting at the bottom -- beaver, grizzly bear. raven and topped by four watchmen. (Art Inventories Catalog, Smithsonian American Art Museum). I noticed that the Smithsonian did not name several of the totem animals.
Below are a few close-ups of parts of the totem
GRIZZLY
BEAVER
UNIDENTIFIED
WATCHMEN
(Captured this photo a few weeks after I took the photos above)
The backside of the totem is flat as was the style of indigenous carvers. Unfortunately modern day carvers have found this flat back as a place to leave their name in history!
What do you think about replacing Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day? Or as Native American Day as South Dakota has done? To find out more about the day click here
