| Summary: | Dogfish pole at Ketchikan (Saxman). Topped by a bear holding a dogfish by the tail, then a wolf with human body holding a plaque. The pole was erected in memory of Chief Ebbits of Tongass, and the upside down figure is a shame symbol signifying a debt owed to the chief. -- Howard Clifford Photo Clifford 362 The village of Saxman is located about 3 miles south of Ketchikan, Alaska. Saxman was a Tlingit village that was founded in 1894 and named for Samuel Saxman, a school teacher. During the 1930s, many totem poles in Southeast Alaska were physically deteriorating. In 1938, the Civilian Conservation Corps worked with the U.S. Forest Service to organize Tlingit and Haida men into teams to relocate, restore, and replicate totem poles. The U.S. Forest Service desired that the totem poles be more centrally located in order to allow tourists in Alaska to easily access them. Many of these restored totem poles were sent to the Ketchikan area, particularly to Saxman Village and Totem Bight. The totem poles included at Saxman Village are Tlingit carvings collected from the abandoned towns and cemeteries of Tongass, Cat Village, Pennock Islands, and Cape Fox Village. An inscription with this totem pole states that it was erected in memory of Ebbits, Head Chief of Tongass on January 11, 1892. The totem pole was deteriorating badly when it was taken to Saxman to be restored and repainted. (Source: Discovering Totem Poles: A Traveler's Guide by Aldona Jonaitis; The Wolf and the Raven: Totem Poles of Southeastern Alaska by Viola E. Garfield and Linn A. Forrest; and Dictionary of Alaska Place Names by Donald J. Orth)
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