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Discussion & Study Guide

Carved From the Heart 

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Background

Notes on Southeast Alaskan Native Cultures

Southeast Alaska is the setting for this film. It is arguably one of the most beautiful and remote regions in the world. It is covered by the largest temperate rain forest in the world and has been home for thousands of years to the Tlingit (Lingit), Tsimpshian, and Haida peoples. The Tlingit, Tsimpshian, and Haida make-up 19% of the population of Southeast Alaska but are the majority population in the rural communities of Southeast. Although the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimpshian share some similarities in artistic expression through carving, weaving, singing, and dancing and in their complex, traditional social structures, each tribe remains distinct in language and cultural nuances.

Notes on Totem Poles

Europeans named the carved, wooden pillars made by the Northwest Coast Native peoples "totem poles." However, totem poles depicted ancestral pride and never represented tribal gods. Generally the poles commemorated one's relatives, or told the story of a memorable event. Some were mortuary poles and contained the remains of the dead. Other poles were carved to honor a leader who had recently died. The carving and pole raising ceremonies helped relieve the grief created by this loss. Poles were usually erected at potlatches, at this time the stories of the crests depicted on the poles were told. The meaning behind most traditional poles seen today died with the carver and the person who commissioned the pole. The people involved with the Healing Heart Totem Pole want to keep the story of this pole alive.

"We have all kinds of totem poles. Some are for history making.
We had totem poles that tell stories about the clan family,
but I've never heard of a healing totem pole- it's a good idea."

-Clara Natkong, Haida Elder

Notes on Grief

"Grief is a reaction to loss and while it is often associated with death, any loss can cause grief. We may grieve divorce, separations, and other relationship losses. Additionally we may grieve the loss of a job... any transition, however positive, also may entail loss... a move to a new area or even a developmental transition can create a sense of loss...Grief is experienced in many ways- physically, emotionally, cognitively, spiritually, and behaviorally. Each person will experience grief in his or her own distinct way.

- Dr. Ken Doka, "A Primer on Grief and Loss."

"...how that tree rolled for a while on the waves.
Then when it drifted to shore
the sun would put its rays on it.
Yes.
It would dry its grief
to the core.
At this moment this sun is coming out over you, my grandparents' mask
At this moment
My hope is that your grief
be like it's drying to your core."

-Jessie Dalton
From "Haa Tuwunaagu Yis, for Healing Our Spirit- Tlingit Oratory"