Senior Sailor Says…
I was still determining what I would find in Saxman Village Totem Park near Ketchikan, Alaska, when a young man began his narrative about what kind of wood is used to create totem poles.
We then entered a long building where we watched Nathan Jackson, a renowned Tlingit totem carver, work on the preliminary carving of a totem and a second man painting wings for another totem pole.
The poles are symbols of cultural and economic wealth, telling stories about the people and legends of the land.
We then marched back outside in the rain to see several village totems. Here are authentic replicas of the original poles left in abandoned villages as Native Alaskans moved into more populated cities.
The art of totem pole carving was a luxury that experienced its heyday from the mid-1700s to the late 1800s. The fur trade had provided the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples with a newfound sense of wealth and time to focus on the artistry of the totem. These poles were symbols of cultural and economic wealth that told glorious, comprehensive stories about the people and legends of the land.
In the late 1800s, Tlingits from the old villages of Cape Fox and Tongass searched the Saxman site as a place to build a school and a church. The site (just one square mile) was incorporated by Native Alaskans in 1929 and has a population of just over 400.
Today, tourists visit Saxman to learn about the totem pole’s history, see the totem’s artistic craftsmanship, and feel the sense of being in the presence of something historic and meaningful.
My visit to Saxman Village was part of a shore excursion offered by Holland America Koningsdam.
Eighty totem poles throughout the village make up the most extensive collection in the world.
We also had the privilege of seeing students’ performances portraying customary dancing before returning to Ketchikan and our ship.
For more information about sailing Alaska’s Inside Passage and visiting Saxman Village, click here.
