Totem Pole Sociology

The totem poles in the story were used to represent the mistreatment of Indigenous peoples in Canada. The totem poles were discarded by the museum staff because the sounds they were making were “quite annoying” (King, Thomas). But truthfully, the problem wasn’t the sounds, it was that the sounds were coming from a totem pole because, “It would be a fine world (.) if paintings or photographs or abstract sculptures began carrying on like that” (King, Thomas). Considering that the patrons only have an issue that a totem pole, an art form specific to Indigenous people, is making noises, and wouldn’t be bothered by other art making noises, this indicates that the totem pole represents Indigenous people and the discrimination they face from non-Indigenous people. To get rid …show more content…
This is representative of Canada’s history with Indigenous peoples, where the Indigenous peoples that occupied Canada long before colonization, were persecuted because their differences in culture and beliefs were seen as a threat. Consequently, the Canadian government employed inhumane methods to assimilate the Indigenous population, one of the methods being residential schools, where children were separated from their families and their cultural roots were cut down, and the public was not aware. This is referred to by the manner in which they attempted to silently discard of the totem poles by cutting them down and storing them in the basement so their sounds would be inaudible to the patrons. The relocation of the totem poles could also represent the relocation of Indigenous peoples onto reserves. Each new totem pole that appeared was cut down and stored in the basement, along with the other totem poles, away from the patrons of the museum. This mirrors the manner in which Indigenous peoples were grouped together, and put on reserves, which are usually outside of city

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