Totem Bight State Historical Park
(Southeast Alaska)
(Printer
version Totem Bight State Historical Park)
The Story of Totem Bight
With the growth of non-Native settlements in Southeast Alaska in the early
1900's, and the decline of a barter economy, Natives moved to communities where
work was available. The villages and totem poles they left behind were soon
overgrown by forests and eroded by weather. In 1938 the U.S. Forest Services
began a program aimed at salvaging and reconstructing these large cedar
monuments. By using Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) funds to hire skilled
carvers from among the older Natives, two things took place: young artisans
learned the art of carving totem poles, and totems which had been left to rot in
the woods were either repaired or duplicated.
Alaskan architect Linn Forrest supervised construction of the model Native
village for this site, then called Mud Bight. The fragments of old poles were
laid beside freshly-cut cedar logs, and every attempt was made to copy them
traditionally. Tools for carving were hand-made, modeled on the older tools used
before coming of Europeans. Samples of Native paints were created from natural
substances such as clam shells, lichen, graphite, copper pebbles, and salmon
eggs; natural colors were then duplicated with modern paints.
By the time World War II slowed down the CCC project, the community house and 15
poles were in place. The name of the site was then changed to Totem Bight. At
statehood, in 1959, title to the land passed from the federal government to the
State of Alaska, and the site was added to the National Register of Historic
Places in 1970. At that time it came under the management of the State’s
Department of Natural Resources for continuing historic preservation treatment
by the Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation.
The Clan House
A community house or clanhouse of this size could have housed 30 to 50 people.
Although it is doubtful a clanhouse existed on this site (originally a fish
camp), this design is representative of the type in many Indian villages built
in the early 19th century.
Inside is one large room with a central fireplace surrounded by a planked
platform. The walls and floors were hand-adzed to smooth the surface and remove
splinters. The dwelling served as living quarters for several families of a
particular lineage. Each was allotted its own space but shared a common fire.
Housewares, treasured items, and blankets were stored under the removable floor
boards, and food items were hung from the beams and rafters. The members
belonging to the house would be headed by a house chief of the same lineage.
The carved house posts supporting the beams inside symbolize the exploits of
Duk-toothl. He is a man of Raven phratry wearing a weasel skin hat who showed
his strength by tearing a sea lion in two. The painting on the house front was
designed by Charles Brown. It is a stylized Raven with each eye elaborated into
a face. Designs on the house fronts were rare, and occurred only in cases of
great wealth.
On the front corner posts sits a man in a spruce root hat with the crest design
on his face and cane in hand. He is ready for a dance or potlatch.
Art And Nature
In Alaska, one is surrounded with natural bounty. Eagles and ravens soar above,
perch in treetops, and swoop to the waters below. Whales, otters and sea lions
inhabit the bays and inlets. Bears, deer and wolves live in forests of tall
cedar, spruce and hemlock. Berries and edible greens cover the forest floor,
while salmon and halibut swim in the waters.
Totems, skillfully carved by artists in Southeast Alaska, reflect these
resources with symbolic characters carved on totem poles and on the community
house at Totem Bight. This guide will introduce some of the characters carved on
the poles. Despite early misunderstanding by European missionaries, totem poles
were not worshipped; they were silent storytellers. There was no written
language.
Interpreting The Poles
A Tlingit myth tells that the people were inspired to carve totem poles after
finding a carved log washed up on the beach. You may wish to look more carefully
at the large logs lining the shores today. The Haida tell of a master carver who
created a house front and several poles overnight and then taught the villagers
how to carve.
The brief narratives in these pages describe the individual poles as well as
records allow. Stories and events associated with the totem poles were sometimes
interpreted differently by different clans and communities. To understand totem
poles, a deeper, more through knowledge of Native people and their history is
necessary.
The Tlingit and Haida Indians are each divided into two matrilineal groups
called moieties or phratries. These divisions are represented by the Raven and
Eagle (wolves) in totem art. Within these moieties are smaller clans, whose
members are more closely related. These clans are further subdivided into
lineages or house groups, which is the fundamental social unit, tracing the
matrilineal descent to a common ancestor.
Early Tlingit and Haida poles are often distinguishable by their layout. Haida
figures interconnect and overlap more than Tlingit figures, which are isolated
from each other and present a more rounded and sculptured appearance.
While Totem Bight is generally considered Tlingit country, you will find both
Tlingit and Haida myths and legends enshrined here.
A People’s Art
The rich resources of this area enabled the people who lived here to have the
leisure time necessary to develop their art. The unique art of the Northwest
people made use of various forms and techniques to produce the images around
you. The art style is usually based on the form line which establishes the
principal shapes and design units within a piece of art. The appearance of a
third dimension is made where the two dimensional form line design is wrapped
around a half cylinder. The form line proportions run from thick to thin in a
curvilinear pattern and connect and outline the basic shapes used throughout
this style of art.
The ovoid or rounded rectangle is the most characteristic shape used and may
delineate a variety of things including the head of a human or creature, eye
sockets, or major joints. They may help form the shape of a wing, tail, fluke,
or fin. Small ovoids may contain faces or indicate eyes, ears, noses, the blow
hole for a whale, or simply fill empty spaces and corners. S-forms and U-forms
are used for connecting, filling and contouring.
Color is one of the great unifying characteristics of the art. Colors were
limited to a few natural pigments made from salmon eggs, hematite, and other
minerals, and European trade did little to change the choice of colors. Black
remains the primary color; red is for secondary elements; and blue-green is for
tertiary highlighting.
Source: Alaska State Parks.
For more information on Alaska State Parks, visit the Alaska State Parks web site.
Alaska
National Parks
Denali National Park,
Kenai Fjords National Park,
Lake Clark National Park,
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
Alaska State
Parks by Region
Anchorage,
Interior Alaska,
Kenai Peninsula,
Kodiak,
Mat-Su
Valley,
Prince William Sound,
Southeast Alaska,
Southwest Alaska
Alaska State Parks by Name
Anchor River State Recreation Area and Stariski SRS,
Birch Lake
State Recreation Site,
Caines Head State Recreation Area and Resurrection Bay State Marine Parks,
Captain
Cook State Recreation Area,
Chena
River State Recreation Area,
Chena
River State Recreation Site,
Chilkat Bald
Eagle Preserve,
Chugach State Park,
Clam Gulch
State Recreation Area,
Deep Creek
State Recreation Area,
Delta
Junction Area State Parks,
Denali State Park,
Haines Area State
Parks,
Harding
Lake State Recreation Area,
Independence Mine State Historical Park,
Kachemak Bay State Park and State Wilderness Park,
Kasilof Area State
Parks,
Kenai
River Special Management Area,
Kodiak Area State
Parks,
Nancy Lake State Recreation Area,
Ninilchik
State Recreation Area,
Point Bridget
State Park,
Salcha
River State Recreation Site,
Sitka Area State Parks,
State Marine Parks in Prince William Sound and Resurrection Bay,
Summit Lake
State Recreation Site, Tok
Area Parks,
Totem Bight
State Historical Park,
Upper Chatanika State Recreation Site,
Wickersham State Historic Site,
Wood-Tikchik
State Park
