東京理科大学 Listening & Speaking 1a: Totem poles・トーテムポール

Hello!

How are you? Look at the picture above. It's of a totem pole. What's a totem pole? 

Totem poles are unique to the Pacific coast native Americans and Canadian First Nations people in the U.S., in northern California, Oregon, Washington state, and southeast Alaska, and in Canada, in British Columbia. The totem poles tell stories, in picture carvings, about nature, events that happened, life, and other things important in the culture of the Pacific Coast people. 

Here are some more pictures and details of totem poles:

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In the circle in pink on the map, here are the parts of the U.S. and Canada where the Pacific Coast indigenous people (先民族) are from: 

Discussion circles 
Here are the discussion circles questions and vocabulary about totem poles. 

Please remember that if there are only three (3) members in your group, the leader should also be the vocabulary master. The details master or summarizer should then ask the leader about vocabulary. 

Leader questions

For the summarizer

Are you ready to summarize the reading/CD talk? (Can you give us your summary of the reading/CD talk?) 

For the details master

1. What are totem poles?

2. Who made them, and where? 

3. What do totem poles show? 

4. What kind of characteristics are associated with bears? 

(Leaders - think of two (2) more questions of your own from the lecture or reading to ask the details master!)

For the vocabulary master

Who are First Nations people? 

What is a cedar? 

What does sneaky mean? 

What does determination mean? 

(Leaders - think of two (2) more words of your own from the lecture or reading to ask the vocabulary master!)

I hope this helps you with your understanding about this topic. 

Here are the board notes for our class today on 6/17:

See you next time!

Images: Top - by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:H - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Totem_Park_pole_1.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2405610/2. By Jerzy Strzelecki - http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3112590/3. By Mark Byzewski - 005 (2)a, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54628069/4. By User: Husky22 at wikivoyage shared, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23224106/Map - screenshot taken of photograph courtesy of the Harper College website.
I do not own the rights to the Harper College website image. All rights reserved to the original creator(s). Uploaded for classroom purposes only.

東京理科大学 Writing & Composition 1a: More on totem poles・トーテムポールの続く

Hello!

How are you? Today I will begin our new topic for all of you in Writing & Composition 1a - about totem poles. 

What are totem poles? They are the wood carvings made by the Pacific Coast native Americans and Canadian First Nations people in the U.S., in Northern California, the states of Oregon and Washington plus southeastern Alaska, and in Canada, in British Columbia. 

Activity/homework
Let's look at these totem poles pictures. What kinds of animals or other images do you see in them? Talk about these and make some guesses! 

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I have posted some selected stories that students in my class last year all wrote on totem poles images. I was impressed with what they did on these and am sharing these to show their great work - and for you to compare your stories on totem poles to theirs. How do they compare?  

What do you think of these? Here's one: 

Once, there was a dog who was brave and fought against any difficulty. He always looked forward and wasn't terrified of anything. 

One day, he was walking along the river. He saw a cat who was teased by a lion. He tackled the lion and saved the cat from the lion. This story is told all over, and the pole for it symbolizes the dog's courage. 

That was great! Now here's another one:

There was a raven which flew over a village. One of the villagers carried some food, and was called over by another villager to talk a little. But he soon noticed that his baggage was a little lighter. The raven had robbed it! 

The leaders of the village decided to watch out for the raven, but at any moment it could steal it, it didn't miss it. 

Here's another!

Once there was a bird who was a liar. He sometimes deceived everyone, so he was disliked. One day, when he was flying around in the sky, his wings got damaged and he fell into the forest. He cried for help as loudly as possible, but no-one believed his words. 

Here's one more: 

Once there was a dog who was hungry. He didn't eat anything for a long time. 

One day, he walked especially heavily. Then, there was a big tree which had a lot of fruit. He wanted to eat it, but the tree was high, so he couldn't reach it. He tried to jump, but finally, he ran out of energy. 

The king of the trees, who watched the scene, felt sorry for the dog, so he thought of a good idea. The idea was for the dog to become a high tree which was situated next to the big tree with the fruit. 

So now, he became a totem pole which could reach for the fruit, and is enjoying a lot of fruit in heaven. 

So how did you like these stories? How would they compare with yours?

Take care!

Images: Top - by Jerzy Strzelecki - (Top) Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3112589/1. By Joshua Murdough - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28076326/2. By Jerzy Strzelecki - http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3112590/3. By Mark Byzewski - 005 (2)a, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54628069/4. By User: Husky22 at wikivoyage shared, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=23224106/5. By Leonard Kaplan - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21638335

東京理科大学 Writing & Composition 1a: Totem poles・トーテムポール

Hello!

How are you? You might wonder what this picture is! It's of a totem pole (トーテムポール) taken in British Columbia in Canada in 1901. 

Totem poles are unique to the Pacific coast native Americans and Canadian First Nations people in the U.S., in northern California, Oregon, Washington state, and southeast Alaska, and in Canada, in British Columbia. The totem poles tell stories, in picture carvings, about nature, events that happened, life, and other things that impacted the Pacific Coast people. 

In the circle in pink on the map, here are the parts of the U.S. and Canada where the Pacific Coast indigenous people (先民族) are from: 

Activity/homework

Look at these pictures of parts of totem poles, with a whole totem pole at the bottom. What kinds of animals do you notice? What kinds of stories do you imagine they might tell? 

Here is an activity, or a piece of homework for you - write out a short account of what you believe one of these totem poles might be telling a story about. 

For example: Once there was an eagle who never rested. He was always flying around in the sky, and was always looking to test how strong he was. One day, when he was coming in low to some trees to pick at some nuts to eat, he saw a raven on a branch...

Share your stories with your classmates in the next class! 

Here are the board notes for our class on 6/3:

Have fun! See you next time!

Image: Top - by Philip Timms - http://www3.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/spe/histphotos/histPhotoAdvancedSearch.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=842792/Map - screenshot taken of photograph courtesy of the Harper College website/First section of totem pole - by Jerzy Strzelecki - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3112590/Detailed section of totem pole - by Jerzy Strzelecki - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3112589/Full totem pole - by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:H - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Totem_Park_pole_1.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2405610
Board notes - personal photographs. All rights reserved. 
All rights reserved on Harper College map screenshot. I do not own the rights to the original photograph. Uploaded for educational purposes only.