of totem poles and things

so what's all this about a swedish connection? it would seem that i'm not the only one in the pacific northwest making a swedish connection; cbc news reports:

Native spirits soar as Sweden returns historic B.C. totem pole
Last Updated Tue, 14 Mar 2006 14:35:34 EST
CBC News

A 134-year-old totem pole began a long journey home to British Columbia on Tuesday after being on display for decades at a museum in Sweden.

according to the article, the totem pole mysteriously left british columbia and the Haisla First Nation in the 1920s with a swedish diplomat, who donated it to the Museum of Ethnography in stockholm. the cbc article notes:

In return for the original, the Haisla have carved a replacement totem pole for the museum. Haisla band spokeswoman Louisa Smith said the new pole will serve as a symbolic link between the Haisla and the people of Sweden.

and that's their swedish connection. meanwhile, having lived on the swinomish reservation in western washington for nearly two decades, another totem pole marked our comings and goings every day - and most of all, on those days we returned from sweden, the totem pole represented the culture shift.