David K. Fison’s Christmas Totem Pole, Anchorage, AK
I’ve just finished writing my Christmas novella for next year: The Gold Rush Christmas, and it includes a Christmas-themed totem pole.
It’s the story of young adult twins who journey to Alaska in search of their missionary father during the 1897 Gold Rush. The boy next door, a seminary student, joins them in an attempt to woo the heart of the female twin and to claim his manhood.
The story ends at Christmas, since this is part of A Pioneer Christmas Collection (Barbour, September 2013). The twins finally find their father on December 24, living with a Tlingit tribe along the eastern shore of the Lynn Canal.
He’s just finished carving a totem pole that tells the story of Christmas.
While I thought I could probably figure out a totem pole that tells the Christmas story, Google led me to Rev. David K. Fison , who is generously allowing me to share his.
The Tlingits carved totem poles to help them remember their stories as they had no written language. According to Rev. Fison, “the characters and symbols on a pole provided an outline to help them remember stories, legends and events so they could be retold to future generations.”
Rev. Fison has lived and ministered in Alaska since 1961, begining as pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Ketchikan. While serving as an interim pastor at the nearby Tsimshian village of Metlakatla, he decided to translate the Christmas story into the native language.
But traditional Christmas characters such as shepherds and angels were unknown to the Tsimshian people.
Rev. Fison’s further research at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks revealed the cultural equivalents. Shepherds, for example, would be keepers of the village fish traps. Rev. Fison felt the common character Raven could serve as an angel.
In 1987, he completed a twelve-foot tall yellow cedar totem, which you can see in the photo.
He also sells twelve-inch replicas of the totem and I bought one for Christmas this year.
I’m fascinated by stories that show us Christianity through the eyes of a different culture. In my first novella, The Dogtrot Christmas, the couple realized that a dogtrot cabin symbolizes how Jesus can bridge cultural difference.
In a post I wrote nearly two years ago, “Slash Marks the Very Good Trail,” I discussed how the Aucas explained who Jesus is, according to the movie End of the Spear.
I love to remember Jesus was not an American. His story is accessible to anyone who wants to understand the son of God come into the world to redeem sinners.
Thanks be to God.
I’m grateful Rev. Fison took the native traditions and devised a colorful version to remember the good news of the Christ child come to earth. He also provided me a key to the totem. Reading down, the characters are as follows:
Raven (angel) An emissary of “the great Chief of the Heavens” who holds the star of Bethlehem
Joseph is a woodcarver, represented by a man holding a canoe paddle (for the journey to Bethlehem)
Mother and Child, of course, are Jesus and Mary. Rev. Fison notes “the village is filled with visitors to the Potlatch,” the gathering called by a powerful chief to display his wealth and power!
The Bear is the closest he could come to a domestic animal representing Jesus was born in a manger.
The Keepers of the Village Fishtraps, of course, are the equivalent of shepherds.
The Chief is one of the wise men.
The Frog serves as the angel who appeared to Joseph in his dream.
Potlatch Chief represents King Herod. You’ll note he’s upside down and in Frog’s clutches–symbolizing he was outwitted by Frog!
Thank you, Rev. Fison!
(And if you would like a totem yourself, you can reach him at totem@alaska.net)
Merry Christmas!
Thank you for sharing, will look forward to more from you!
Hmm. At some point it really just isn’t the same story. Part of the reason God’s story is told in words, not images, is that we always run the risk of thinking a golden calf is a good “functional equivalent” to represent God. And is there any significant difference between an angel or a frog or a raven? Yes, there is.
But only if you have both an angel and a frog within your culture. Fison’s point was to use the characters the natives knew.
Except that most of us would know nothing of angels if it weren’t for Scripture. But Scripture portrays them as appearing either as quite fearsome beings or as men (usually fearsome men), not as animals; they are in many ways higher than we are, not lower. This culture probably does have the concept of spirits . . . which is what angels are. But even if they know nothing of angels, or of virgin births, or of resurrections, the Bible challenges us to believe what it portrays, not some other version. I’d hate to be the one who says natives aren’t “smart enough” to believe the truth and need some other story, or the one who says that God’s Word can’t be translated into another culture without significant changes. It’s better to stand on the power of God’s Word than our own creativity or cleverness.