This post was once part of a column supporting the roof of a sacred building. A similar face is carved on the reverse side, with wide eyes made from inlaid shell and the tongue sticking out. It was designed to frighten enemies with its fierce expression. To me, however, this totem looks delightful, a monument to hilarious good cheer. How can something look so different to one set of cultural eyes from another? We cannot know what it is to live in each other’s worlds. We can only marvel, and appreciate, that one person’s ferocity is another person’s pleasant mirth.

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