Red Totem I is the first in a series of tall columns made by George Morrison, ranging from monumental to a size suitable for a tabletop. Morrison took the word “totem” to mean “family mark” in the Ojibwe language (anglicized from doodem), connected to family clans. The clans, based mainly on animals, are instrumental in traditional occupations, intertribal relations, and marriages—each totem represents a core branch of knowledge and responsibility essential to society. In making these tall manifestations of the importance of clans, Morrison honored a tradition among many Native nations while transforming it through his carefully honed abstract visual language. He constructed Red Totem I using pieces of stained redwood glued to a plywood core. According to Morrison, the redwood pieces were his imitation of carving “a kind of Constructivism like Mondrian and Moholy-Nagy, with straight edges and flat shapes.” The wood pieces were stained red to reference sacred earth paint.
