Totem poles at Tulalip casino

Tulalip artist creates cultural icon to grace casino hotelJust inside the new Tulalip Resort Casino hotel lobby are three soaring house poles, each carved from the same 1,000-year-old red cedar tree. The poles, carved by a group of Tulalip artists, honor tribal tradition, but one pole is distinctly modern, with blown glass and metalwork incorporated into the carved totems.

“I put all my blood, sweat and tears into that pole,” said Tulalip artist James Madison. “It is very important to me because it displays our culture.”

“One thing we do in preserving our culture is to show it is not petrified but still alive,” Madison said. “By me putting glass and bronze on there, it shows we are not petrified.”Comment:  For more on the subject, see The Facts About Indian Gaming.