| Summary: | Caption with image: Community House at Totem Bight (Ketchikan). The entrance pole tells the story of Raven. The corner posts are men with spruce hats with cane in hand signifying fun making or on the way to a Potlatch. Totem Bight is located a few miles from Ketchikan. Clifford 366 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. Brown carved the four interior house posts and the exterior pole that served as an entrance to the Clan House. He also designed the painted facade of the building. The Clan House combines Tlingit and Haida artistic traditions and is considered one of the main attractions at Totem Bight State Historical Park. (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)
|
|---|