What a white culture's totem pole would look like

First Nations on the West coast have a tradition of creating magnificent works of art, "totem poles," to honour their ancestors. Expertly handcrafted by Indigenous artisans, they celebrate family or clan history through mythological references to spiritual traditions unique to First Nations culture.

Settler culture, on the other hand, is a little more materialistic. We tend to be more about hoarding stuff, so we celebrate our ancestors by keeping shit they used to own.  We're prime examples of that right here at Falling Downs. 

Here's what our totem pole would look like. For both aesthetic considerations and certain laws of physics, we should start with the larger totems first. Our totem pole has as it's base a 1999 Ford F-150. It was a hand-me-down from my father, and I believe he gave his dad, my grandpa, a ride in it once when he was visiting from the old country, so it's symbolic of the past two generations on my father's side.

In the bed we could put the old cashier's table from Gorbet's Fine Furs, which aptly references the past two generations of the Farm Manager's family.

We'll build on that with Uncle Henry's old console hi-fi, and maybe top it off with a kitchen chair from Uncle Murray with Auntie Mabel's art deco bedside lamp on top.

That should bring us up to a decent totem polish height, I would think.

However, I'm pretty sure you won't be seeing it in a museum or gallery any time soon