Did you know that the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles can be found in Ketchikan, Alaska? You do now, if you didn’t before. And the trip we decided to do for this final port stop was just a brief one to visit one of the locations where totem poles weren’t just standing but were also carved. This would be the Edwin C. DeWitt Carving Centre in Saxman, although they spell centre the American way there for some reason I simply cannot guess.
A moderately interesting additional aspect of the trip was that we got to ride on a vintage trolley bus with a running commentary from our guide of the sights we passed and a little of the history of Ketchikan.
Our trip did not actually coincide with any live carving but we were still taken on a tour of the area with explanations given as to the methods used for colouring – yes, yellow does come from exactly what you fear it comes from – and how the meanings for totems are sometimes only discernible to those who carve them. The imagery on a typical pole can reference events in the life of someone, but the imagery is often representational and so is of clearest comprehension to those who know the subject.
One type of totem pole is called a shame pole and it will typically feature an image of the person being ridiculed. The famous one at Saxman is that representing William H. Seward, secretary of state in the nineteenth century, and shamed for not repaying his hosts for their courtesy and generosity. The one we saw on this excursion and which you can see below in the photograph is the third version of it, carved in 2017, and replacing an original carved in the 1880s and its replacement when that had started to deteriorate.
Another notable totem pole in Saxman was one with Abraham Lincoln atop. Again, this pole was a replacement for another 1880s one as totem poles last only sixty to eighty years on average. While some people think this is another example of a shame pole, perhaps for Lincoln’s role in general American imperialism, another story claims that the first pole was put up to commemorate a white person visiting the local tribe but the carver only had a photo of Abraham Lincoln to work from in lieu of actually meeting one himself.
The Edwin C. DeWitt Carving Centre wasn’t very large and the excursion wasn’t very long, but it was nice to do something a little different from the more expansive and expensive trips we’d taken while on this Alaskan cruise or the lumberjack show that we saw almost everyone else was planning to visit. We do like to do things a little differently on occasion. We bought some locally-made items from the gift shop before leaving and I’m even wearing a t-shirt with a local Tlingit artist’s work on it right now while I’m typing this post up.
In the next post in this cruise travelogue series we’ll have a free wander around Ketchikan which will naturally take us through the historic Creek Street area and will even more naturally take us to a brewery, maintaining our record of visiting one in each port of call.