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Totem pole carves a tall niche in neighborhood

Woman, artist and others turn a fallen tree into a 15-foot work of art on South Locust Street.

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By Elizabeth Hagedorn, Contributing Writer 12:05 PM Thursday, November 12, 2009

Until recently, a drive down South Locust Street was like any other residential road in Oxford.

But now, drivers and walkers alike are slowing down to get a glimpse of the rather large addition to the neighborhood: a 15-foot totem pole.

After Hurricane Ike’s blusterous winds hit Oxford last year, a large branch fell from Roxanne Ornelas’ beloved 100-foot tree on the side of her yard.

In June, when Oxford was hit with another windstorm, Ornelas’ tree was knocked down onto her roof. While the house did not have significant damage, the same could not be said for the tree.

“I was sad to see it go. It was such a beautiful tree,” Ornelas said, “I kept looking at the trunk, and it pained me to think about cutting it down.”

Not wanting to let go of her tree, Ornelas decided to make it into a totem pole. Through a mutual friend, Ornelas met Rebecca Fallat, the owner of Blue Heron Gallery in Liberty, Ind., and now the artist of Ornelas’ totem pole.

Fallat had done much smaller cravings and even worked on a logging crew, but had never considered a project this size before.

“It sounded like a cool project, but it was a challenge to myself since I hadn’t done it in so long,” Fallat said.

Fallat began carving on Sept. 3. Along with Fallat, Chris Snider helped build the scaffolding and did the heavy-duty chain saw work, Kathy Baxter of “Gardens by Kathy” helped with the carving and Scott “Woody” Woodruff assisted with finishing touches.

Ornelas, who has lived in Oxford for more than a year and is an assistant professor of geography and women’s studies at Miami University, used her research on indigenous people’s geography and native people in the United States to inspire the design of her totem pole.

Native Americans believe that Earth was created on the Turtle’s back because it is strong and they call the Earth “Turtle Island,” Ornelas said. This is why Ornelas put a turtle on the bottom of the totem pole.

There is a bear standing on the turtle and a thunderbird on top of the bear. Both of these animals represent the time of year Ornelas was born.

“The bear represents the wisdom that comes with introspection. It promotes unity, honesty and inner strength,” Ornelas said. “The thunderbird is the messenger of the Great Spirit and represents vision and transformative energy.”

The thunderbird can also be called a phoenix, which is known to rise from the ashes reborn. Ornelas said that this tree was reborn from what it was and is now a spiritual totem that represents her and her house.

The tree itself often dictated how it was going to be carved, Fallat said.

“The bear is long and slender, but that is because there was a perfect knot in the tree to be used for a nose. The tree guided us,” Fallat said,

The totem pole has caused quite a stir on South Locust Street. Ornelas welcomes those interested in taking a look.

“People will park their cars and watch Rebecca work. When I’m leaving my driveway, people will flag me down to tell me how excited they are to see it finished,” Ornelas said, “I’m meeting neighbors I wouldn’t have met and it’s bringing the community together.”

The totem pole is mostly complete, but Fallat is still adding some finishing touches.

“There is still some smoothing out to do on the arms and in places over the entire Totem,” Ornelas said. “I have a feeling that the process will continue in some fashion for years to come and that is OK with me.”

Ornelas plans to hold a get-together to celebrate the final product.

“In life we need to celebrate our accomplishments,” Ornelas said, “It is not finished until we celebrate it as a community.”

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