Totem Pole

Item number E415864-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

From card: "Carved from single cedar log by Chilkat Indians at the Seattle, Washington Fair in 1970. Includes three figures; top - raven or eagle, center - wolf, and bottom - the bear. Carving goes around three fourths of circumference and is painted in red, black and light blue. Partially hollowed out in back. Carved under the direction of Carl Heinmiller [founder of Alaska Indian Arts, Inc.]." According to the accession history: the totem pole "was commissioned by Western Airlines for the Alaska Exhibit at Seattle, Washington, 1969-1970. Carved by Chilkat Indians at Fort Chilkoot [a.k.a. Port Chilkoot, or Fort William H. Seward], Haines, Alaska, under the direction of Carl Heinmiller, owner of the Fort."Florence Sheakley, Linda Wynne, Alan Zuboff, and Shirley Kendall made the following comments during the Tlingit Recovering Voices Community Research Visit, March 13-March 24, 2017. Edwin Caskill, Leo Jacobs, Tommy Jimmy, and Charlie Jimmy carved this totem pole. Leigh Heinmiller in Haines may have photos of the totem pole at the Seattle Exposition. This totem pole features an Eagle at the top, Wolf in the middle, and a Bear at the bottom with a tana (copper shield), all from Kaagwantaan clan. Florence commented that it would take a year to carve this object and that totem poles are read from bottom to top. Alan commented that based on the adze marks three people worked on this object, instead of one or two, potentially as a teaching tool for the whole community. The totem pole is not hollowed out, suggesting it was made in a hurry.