Warwick L Nixon Wrote:
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> Some were mortuary poles, some of which actually
> contained bodies others not.

Do you have a citation for this? I talked to some of the carvers in Alaska and Canada and museum curators and no one mentioned them containing bodies. The boxes for mortuary poles are separate carvings in all the examples I know (though they are set on top of the poles. As I understand it, though, the (relatively fresh) corpse was never put in there.

> Some were power poles ie protection against the
> forces of nature
>

Do you have a citation for this? The scholars I read said that there were 6 types of poles (not all carved) : House pillars and false house pillars, Mortuary poles, Memorial poles (living and dead people), family ("heraldic") poles, Potlatch poles which include the mythic history of the person and his wife, and the Ridicule/Shame pole


> A bear holding a fish not only insures a good
> catch, but acts as a guardian over the fishermen
> until their return.

I haven't seen this expressed anywhere. I confess my ignorance. Can you give me a source?

>
> While their elemental beliefs are represented on
> the pole I do not think a comparisson to an Old
> Testament Fable holds much water.

You could argue the matter with the Haida docent at the museum who told us this. I'm just repeating what I was told.


> as I noted in my at large post. the parallels
> between Norse art and that of the NW coast are
> very similar. in many cases this is do to similar
> environment and lifestyle. IOW's they had to kow
> tow to the same elements.