“Can you handle two more rocks?” Old Hands asks. Sitting cross-legged in the dirt in a sweat-soaked T-shirt, I’m pleasantly hypnotized by the rhythm of a drumbeat. “Bring them on,” I tell the medicine ...

"Can you handle two more rocks?" Old Hands asks. Sitting cross-legged in the dirt in a sweat-soaked T-shirt, I'm pleasantly hypnotized by the rhythm of a drumbeat. "Bring them on," I tell the medicine ...

For the House of Tears Carvers, totem poles are more than masterful works of art – they’re a medium for storytelling, for raising consciousness, for healing. The group of artisans from the Lummi ...

Members of the public take part in a blessing of the Lummi Nation totem pole in San Leandro, California, on June 3. The House of Tears Carvers toured the pole around the West Coast before embarking on ...

Totem poles have become a symbol of Seattle, but it turns out they have nothing to do with the Coast Salish people of the Northwest. Now there is a growing movement to right the cultural wrongs done ...

This salmon is carved from cedar. But it still travels. The totem pole, the work of Native carvers, is part of the Spirit of the Waters journey to the Snake River in Idaho, making stops in communities ...

From left: A pole on the grounds of a waterfront home on Haida Gwaii; wooden masks carved by the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation on display at the U’mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, off Vancouver Island ...

Totem poles were created by the indigenous people of North America’s Pacific Northwest as a way to document their history, with each massive carving recalling notable events and commemorating ...

Totem poles were created by the indigenous people of North America's Pacific Northwest as a way to document their history, with each massive carving recalling notable events and commemorating ...

Introduction to Alaska's totems: Totem people -- Importance of cedar -- Carving a totem pole -- Early totem sightings -- Golden age of totem poles -- Devastating changes -- Symbol of the Pacific ...

Totem poles were created by the indigenous people of North America’s Pacific Northwest as a way to document their history, with each massive carving recalling notable events and commemorating ...