I saw the old totem poles at the museums, and I saw them in photographs, and I’d come home and there was nothing. Ministry says, if they don’t get rid of these totem poles, you never go to heaven. So they want all Indians get together, cut all the totem poles down, and burn them up. I was only carving argillite totem poles then. Think of how bland it would be if we didn’t know how to dance, we didn’t know how to sing, we didn’t know how to carve poles.

Source: New York Times February 05, 2020 20:03 UTC