Mini Totem Laser Cut appliqués come in two designs: Eagle Bear Totem or Raven Beaver Totem on brown batik fabric with fusible backing, twenty 5/8" brown circles for embellishment, and the pattern to make up a 13" x 29" wall hanging. You provide the fabrics, batting and love to make your special project complete.

The artwork is by Tlingit carver Tommy Joseph. The Lasercut is by Westfield Laser Design. The fusible is Soft Fuse Premium. You just remove the paper backing, position on the background fabric and iron to fuse in place.

About Totem Poles

Totem Poles also hold a strong place in Alaska Native cultural communities: Eyak, Haida and Tsimshian cultures, but the designer of theses Totem Poles is Tlingit carver Tommy Joseph. Here is some infrmation about how Totel  Poles figure in Tlingit cultre and history.

For centuries, Tlingit peoples of Southeast Alaska relied on these monumental sculptures as their primary means of recording history, lineage, and oral traditions. Each pole is a visual narrative, a complex mnemonic device that tells stories of creation, epic journeys, clan origins, significant events, and the rights and privileges held by a specific family or lineage. 

Figures carved onto the pole are not arbitrary; each is a crest, a supernatural being, or a character from a clan’s oral history. These crests are often animals—such as the Raven, Eagle, Bear, Wolf, and Killer Whale—but they are not merely representations of the animals themselves. They embody characteristics, powers, and historical events associated with a particular clan or lineage.

The Eagle symbolizes power, prestige, and peace, often representing the opposite moiety to the Raven in the Tlingit social structure, which is divided into these two complementary halves.

The Bear signifies strength, leadership, and a deep connection to the land, often appearing in stories of human-animal transformation. 

The Raven is a pervasive and complex figure in Tlingit cosmology, often depicted as a trickster, creator, and culture hero responsible for bringing light, fresh water, and salmon to the world. A pole featuring the Raven might tell a story of a clan’s origin or a pivotal event involving this transformative being.

Totem Poles are not just historical, but a strong part of Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian communities and cultures today.