Totem Bight State Park
Ketchikan
The Story of Totem Bight
With the growth of non-Native settlements in Southeast Alaska in the early 1900's, and the decline of a barter economy, Natives moved to communities where work was available. The villages and totem poles they left behind were soon overgrown by forests and eroded by weather. In the 1938 the U.S. Forest Service began a pregram aimed at salvaging and reconstructing these large cedar monuments. By using Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) funds to hire skilled carvers from among the older Natives, two things took place: young artisans learned the art of carving totem poles, and totems which had been left to rot in the woods were either repaired or duplicated.
An Alaskan arhitect supervised construction of the model Native village for this site, then called Mud Bight. The fragments of old poles were laid beside freshly-cut cedar logs, and every attempt was made to copy them traditionally. Tools for carving were hand-made, modeled on the older tools used before the coming Europeans. Samples of Native paints were created from natural substances such as clam shells, lichen, graphite, copper pebbles, and salmon eggs; natural colors were then duplicated with modern paints. By the time World War II slowed down the CCC project, the community house - designed by Linn Forrest as a representation of of a typical clan house - and 15 poles were in place. The name of the site was then changed Bright. At statehood, in 1959, title to the land passed from the federal government to the State of Alaska, and the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. At that time it came under the management of the states's Department of Nautral Resources for continuing historic preservation treatment by the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation.
Art And Nature
In Alaska, one is surrounded with natural bounty. Eagles and ravens soar above, perch in treetops, and swoop to the waters below. Whales, otters and sea lions inhabit the bays and inlets. Bears, deer and wolves live in forests of tall cedar, spruce and hemlock. Berries and edible greens cover the forest floor, while salmon and halibut swim in the waters.
Totems, skillfully carved by artists in Southeast Alaska, reflect these resources. A cast of nature's characters has been symbolized and carved on totem poles and on the community house at Totem Bight. Despite early misunderstanding by European missionaries, totem poles were not worshipped; they were silent storytellers.
Interpreting The Poles
A Tlingit myth tells that the people were inspired to carve totem poles after finding a carved log washed up on the beach. The Haida tell of a master carver who created a house front and several poles overnight and then taught the villagers how to carve.
To understand totem poles, a deeper, more thorough knowledge of Native people and their history is necessary.
The Tlingit and Haida Indians are each divided into two matrilineal groups called moieties or phratries. These divisions are represented by the raven and eagle (wolves) in totem art. Within these moieties are smaller clans, whose members are more closely related. These clans are further subdivided into lineages or house groups, which is the fundamental social unit, tracing the matrilineal descent to a common ancestor.
Early Tlingit and Haida poles are often distinguishable by their layout. Haida figures interconnect and overlap more than Tlingit figures, which are isolated from each other and present a more rounded and sculptured apperarance.
While Totem Bight is generally considered Tlingit country, you will find both Tlingit and Haida myths and legends enshrined here.
Click on thumbnails to view pictures at full size and read the description of that particular totem pole.
It should be noted that not every totem pole in the park has been photographed.
When you are finished with this park, you may want to check out Saxman's Native Totem Park.
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The text on this page and the totem pole descriptions are courtesy of:
Alaska Department of Natural Resources
Division of Parks
550 W 7th Ave, Suite 1260
Anchorage, Alaska 99510
(907) 269-8400
