| Summary: | Caption with image: Carvings of humans are almost always conventional. Clothing is seldom shown in detail except for the high crowned hat worn by the chiefs of the old days. As the natives carve or weave these hats they resemble a silk top-hat. When Caucasians are carved, they are usually marked by beards, curly hair, white painted faces and clothing Clifford 597 Sitka National Historical Park is home to a collection of totem poles. The park is Alaska's oldest federally designated park site and was established in 1890. In 1910, it was made a monument to commemorate the 1804 Battle of Sitka between the Tlingits and Russians. Alaskan governor John Brady was interested in preserving Native art when he went to various villages in southeast Alaska to collect totem poles and other artwork for a totem park that he was planning. The totem poles that he received from Native leaders were displayed first at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and at the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland the following year. In 1906 the poles were returned to Alaska and placed along the pathways at Sitka National Historical Park. Several poles would be loaned to the 1964 New York World's Fair. Many of the poles are replicas of the originals due to physical deterioration. This totem pole is one of two that stood at the front exterior corners of a Yaadaas clan house at the village of Kasaan. The corner poles were donated to Brady in 1903 by John Baranovich of Kasaan. (Source: http://www.nps.gov/sitk/historyculture/index.htm)
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