For thousands of years, aboriginal peoples made their homes along the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. Before being forcibly removed from their lands, one ceremonial ritual was the carving of the Totem Pole. The Haida Nation performed this material ritual. Once carved, the Totem Pole was raised and the Nation held an elaborate ceremony-a potlatch-commemorating and celebrating the raising ( Stewart 1990, 18-19). After colonialism, Nation culture was outlawed, Totem Pole carving drastically decreased and carvers died off. In 1951, laws against First Nation rituals were repealed, new carvers emerged and in 1968, the ritual of Haida Totem Pole raising and potlatches returned (Stewart 1990 21-23).