totem poles at Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary - Ketchikan
N 55° 19.549 W 131° 31.624
9U E 339678 N 6133957
These five totem poles are found in front of the General Store at Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary about 5 miles east of Ketchikan.
Waymark Code: WMEY96
Location: Alaska, United States
Date Posted: 07/21/2012
Views: 11
These five totem poles were carved on site by one of Alaska’s leading Native carvers Wayne Hewson. He is a Tsimshian from Metlakatla, a Native community on Annette Island, 17 miles from Ketchikan.
The five poles (left to right) are:
1-The Woman’s Pole
Women held one of the most important places in native culture. Not only as the bearers of children but also as an influential role in the family and the village as a whole. The woman’s role in a village was a long day of chopping wood, cooking, making clothes, weaving and keeping “everything” in balance. Women of the Northwest coast are held in the high esteem with Native People. Therefore, this pole is in honor of Woman.
2-Raven and Tide Woman
Raven was hungry for clams, crabs and cockles but the tide would not go down. Raven asked one of the people who was also waiting for the tide to go down. “Why has the tide stayed up so long?” Because of that greedy old tide Woman! So Raven put on his robe and it turned into wings so that he could fly to Tide Woman’s Island. When Raven landed, he saw a rope leading to the water and the then into the Tide Woman’s house. Raven had a plan.
He walked into the Tide Woman’s house and said “I’m full of cockles, crab, and clams but I need to sit awhile before I fly home.” What’s this? It can’t be… “I have been holding the Tide this whole time”! “Go look for yourself”, Raven said. As Tide Woman started to see for herself, Raven reached down for a handful of sand and then threw it in her face. Tide Woman fell to the floor and let go of the rope. All the people ran to the beach and gathered seafood.
Tide Woman was still on the floor holding her eyes. “My eyes…. help me giant and heal my eyes so that I can see again”. No, not until you promise to let the Tide out two times a day so that our people can gather food. Tide Woman promised she would and Raven healed her eyes. We now have 2 high tides and 2 low tides.
3-The Animals of Herring Cove
Wildlife you are likely to see while visiting Herring Cove are represented on this pole. An Eagle is perched on the top, followed by a Bear with a Salmon in his mouth. A Killer Whale, Wolf and Raven complete the pole.
4-The Bear Pole
The Bear is one of the many coats of arms on the Northwest Coast. The salmon represents the Git-lan tribe which means “People from where the salmon spawn”. On the pectoral fin of the salmon is a duck bull. It represents “Ana Naex” or the house of the Blue Bill Duck.
5-The Eagle that Rescues a Village from Starvation
A Prince was checking his trap lines for food when he came upon an Eagle trapped in one of his snares. The Eagle looked large and supernatural. The Prince very carefully let the Eagle out of his trap and the Eagle flew away. The Prince went back to checking the rest of his traps. The next year was a bad gathering season for the village and there was a famine in the land.
The Prince went to check his trap line for food. There was nothing in his traps. They will have nothing to eat if he came home with no food. As the Prince was walking home, a huge salmon fell at his feet. All he heard was a flapping of wings. The Prince looked up and saw that it was the Eagle he had released from his snare. The Eagle flew away and the Prince brought the large salmon home to feed his village.
The next day the Prince was checking the trap line again and there was no food in his snares. While the Prince was walking home, a huge halibut fell to his feet. It was the Eagle again! The Eagle flew off and the Prince took the huge Halibut home to feed his village. The next day, the Eagle brought a huge seal and then a whale. The Eagle was so grateful that he kept bringing food for the whole village and kept them from starvation.
Type of wood carving: Totem pole
Artist's Name: Wayne Hewson
Approximate size/height: 30 ft
Other type: Not listed
Type of wood: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
All logs must be the result of an actual visit to the wooden carving.
"Visited" only remarks will not be accepted.