Masterful Craftsmanship of Gitksan Totem Carvers

This totem pole is installed at the Seneca Park Zoo. The sign beside it reads in part:

“Walter Harris and Art Sterrit, both of the Gitksan Nation in British Columbia, Canada, came to Rochester to carve this totem pole by hand. For one month, they worked with gouges, handmade knives and chisels. They used a red cedar log from the Northwest Coast and their ideas about their culture and Rochester’s history.”

Image by Michael J. Hall