Why does white man call native american tribes pillar a totem pole?

Answer 1

Because that is what they are, they serve as a emblem of a tribe or clan. .

Answer 2

Because most people, white and not, outside of the cultures that have them generally don't know what the real names of them are. And I use a plural because I'm sure they likely have different names among the Nations that did and do create them...

I've heard/read people of other Native Nations call it the same...because they don't know the real names anymore then the rest of us...

Answer 3

it is a "pole" shaped "totem"

Totem: A venerated emblem or symbol

Pole: a long slender usually cylindrical object (as a length of wood)

Answer 4

What else should they call it?

From Dictionary.com

to·tem
–noun 1. a natural object or an animate being, as an animal or bird, assumed as the emblem of a clan, family, or group.
2. an object or natural phenomenon with which a family or sib considers itself closely related.
3. a representation of such an object serving as the distinctive mark of the clan or group.
4. anything serving as a distinctive, often venerated, emblem or symbol.


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[Origin: 1750–60, Americanism; < Ojibwa ninto·te·m my totem, oto·te·man his totem (prob. orig. my clan-village-mate, deriv. of s. o·te·- dwell in or as a village; cf. o·te·na village)]

Answer 5

its a pole that has had native totems carved onto it

Answer 6

Probably because we don't speak the native language and that is the closest english translation.

Answer 7

Interesting question. They do not know better.