Colorful totem poles are fascinating symbols of Native American culture. For Thanksgiving CPs decided to make a totem pole sculpture. Our Totem Pole Craft Project was made from recycled materials such as cartons, recycled papers and scrap colorful papers. It turned out to be a great idea for a collaborative project and a history lesson at the same time.
Since September CPs have been learning about the culture and history of the Native American people. CPs worked in pairs to make one section and then the group assembled them to a totem pole. Each pair acted as one tribe, and selected an animal spirit to represent them. In Native American culture, an animal can symbolize a quality or way of life.
The tribe used their sculpture skills and began the creative process of designing their animal. Lastly they had to decide on the placement of each animal. They did it very logically by making a story up of their animal and giving a reason on the placement of each animal on the totem pole. For example, dogs are good guards hence it is guarding our totem pole by taking the top place on the totem pole. Bravo CPs!