| Summary: | Caption: Copy of the Howkan Eagle at the entrance of Totem Bight, Ketchikan. The reproduction of the Chilkat blanket design on the front is entirely out of keeping with wood carving. Such a design was only woven in blankets or painted on skin for ceremonial purposes. Clifford 369 Totem Bight State Historical Park is located approximately 17 miles north of Ketchikan, Alaska. The site was a traditional Tlingit campsite. 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. Totem Bight was originally referred to as "Primitive Indian Village," and later, "Mud Bight Village." The name was changed to Totem Bight in 1946. Totem Bight was intended to be the site of a full-scale model village with plank houses, smokehouses, and totem poles. Forest Service architect Linn Forrest created the plans for a clan house that was built, but the advent of World War II put a halt to plans to create a model village. Instead, the project became focused on the totem poles themselves along with the Clan House. The restoration and carving of totem poles was supervised by Tlingit lead carver Charles Brown and Haida lead carver John Wallace. This grave marker is a copy of one found in the village of Howkan. The original was removed from the park in 1941 as it began to deteriorate. Wallace carved this copy, which is different from the original and unusual in that it incorporates a Chilkat blanket design. (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 Silent Storytellers of Totem Bight State Historical Park by Tricia Brown)
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