In 1997, our camp was an informal affair, started by a group of friends from San Francisco. The camp dug a mud pit, which turned out to be very popular and very messy. But hey, some of the best things in life are messy....

1998: 1000-gallon mud pit

In 1998, we moved to 12^th South and Esplanade, grew to 25 campers, and called ourselves Planet 9. We sponsored a second generation mud pit, across the Esplanade from our camp. It was a 1000-gallon affair that held 25 people. We also served 8 kegs of beer to thirsty revelers, and offered a shaded carpeted area for our less-muddy guests to relax and party. Some of our campers hosted their own projects, such as body painting and a large participatory canvas.

In 1999, we changed our name to TOTEM: Temple Of The Eternal Mysteries, and grew to 60 residents, 25% from outside of California (NM, AZ, NJ, MA, TX, WA, NY). We camped at 3:45 Mercury, and built a temple consisting of a party room where we served beer and made camp breakfasts, and a lounge with a stage, where we hosted live music from jazz/klezmer/funk fusion band Jill Brazil. The temple also featured such amenities as a camp shower with an evaporation pond, a 5KW generator with a noise-baffling shed, a battery-backup power system, indoor and outdoor lighting, a 500-gallon camp water supply, and a swamp cooler. Our residents sponsored many individual projects, giving Totem the flavor of a small village.

1999: AfterBurn party at the temple

In 2000, we brought a large sound system, and were located in the "Large-Scale Sound Art" zone at 10:00 and Brain. We surprised the Burning Man community by playing a wide variety of non-rave music. We hosted Dust Devil Radio, several live musical performances, and original remix by our DJ/guru Mario. Our Moroccan chill tent was a wonderful addition, transporting you instantly from the playa into a fantasy world of luxury and grace.

2000: The Moroccan Tent

In 2001 we first sponsored TOTEM Massage. We erected a 700-sq.ft. Russian Army MASH tent as our massage tent. We devoted our efforts to supporting the giving of massage by a group of Burning Man massage veterans. They united to create an ideal environment in which to provide massage and other healing arts for our visitors. We were centrally located at 6:40 Esplanade, near Center Camp.

2001: Massage Therapy

In 2002 we decided to sponsor Totem Massage again. We were gratified that many of the people we had massaged in 2001 made a point of coming back to find us. We expanded to two MASH tents, and from eight to twelve massage tables. In addition to our resident massagers, we recruited many new guest massagers. Our massage tent was beautifully decorated in Japanese Floating World style. Our visitors' lounge featured a large desert fountain, complete with snails. We were located almost exactly in the same spot as in 2001, at 6:50 Esplanade.

2002: Floating World Lounge

In 2003 we enlarged our visitors' chill zone, and made it more suitable for visitors to massage each other.

In 2004 we kept things pretty much the same.

In 2005 we switched from Russian MASH tents to a new tent. It was bigger than two MASH tents (2400-sq.ft. vs. 1400-sq.ft.), prettier (there's really nothing uglier than a Russian army tent!), and more colorful. We also added a 400-sq.ft. bed to our chill space.

In 2006 we increased the size of our Big Tent to 4000-sq.ft. and upgraded our interior decorations. We also helped found a new mega-camp called The Red Nose District. Totem became the civic center of RND, complimenting their entertainment-oriented camps. RND had 200 residents, private toilets, hot showers, a commissary serving hot dinners, and three of the four biggest indoor structures on the playa. Our circus performers were delighted to have their own in-camp massage & chill space.

2006: The Big Tent

In 2007 we stayed in the District, which grew to 270 residents. Damn, that's a BIG camp! The head of Theme Camp Placement told us we were the biggest camp on the Esplanade!

The playa sent us some mighty wind storms on WED and THU. The tent held up very well. During the extended white-outs, we were packed to capacity. That's not so surprising, since it was the only public space on the playa that was dust-free. [We had several visitors tell us they had slept through the entire wind-storm in our siesta zone, and had no idea what everyone was making such a fuss about.] The bigger surprise was that the following days were just as packed, perhaps because so many people had gone home after the storms and told all their friends about us.

In 2008 we'll be part of the District once again. We plan to shrink RND down to a more-manageable 150 residents. Totem will continue to improve our (now totally gorgeous) interior decorations. We'll also be hosting parties every evening TUE-FRI, with cocktails, snacks, and succulent party tunes.