Argilite sculptures of Haida Gwaii

In the 19^th century tourists came to Queen Charlotte Islands and encountered totem poles. They were amazed, perhaps some tourists wouldn't mind taking them as souvenirs, but they were rather too big. Haida Indians, who lived on Queen Charlotte Islands, came with a solution: miniature totem poles could be made. They could be even made from different material, for example argilite, black stone easy to cut that was plentiful on those islands. So miniature black totem poles were produced. Or miniature chests, which couldn't contain much but which tourists could take home. Or pipes full of mythical figures, like totem poles. Or even a figure of a soldier, after all an argilite sculpture does not have to be traditional.

If anyone wants to lean more on the subject, I published a book about it: