Kasaan Totem Pole History Story - DN

 

By Dave Kiffer
For the Daily News
A totem pole that was carved in Kasaan more than a century ago is returning home in November.
The 53-foot pole has spent the last 116 years in California and Colorado.
It is not clear exactly when the pole was carved, but Mike Jones, the Organized Village of Kasaan Tribal President, says that photos from the 1890s show the pole standing in what was then Old Kasaan, which was located about 10 miles south of the current village on Prince of Wales Island.
In 1906, the pole, a deconstructed long house, and hundreds of other cultural items were loaded onto the steamship Alki and sent to Los Angeles, California for a national Indian Crafts Exhibition that was held on a open space near downtown in what is now Lincoln Park near the University of Southern California Campus. The exhibition was the brainchild of Henry Huntington, a California railroad magnate who also had an interest in Native cultural items that he collected for museums all over the west.
Native Americans from across the country took part in the exposition which also served as a market in which hundreds of attendees were also able to purchase items. Kasaan Chief Son-i-Hat (Saanaheit) accompanied the items from Kasaan, which were imporant enough to merit their own page in the Exhibition pamphlet.
"Chief Son-i-Hat's house and Totem-Pole, by far the most historic in Alaska, were purchased and brought here at great expense, and form part of the Exhibition," the 1906 pamphlet read. "This Totem-Pole is the first and only one ever sold and taken from Alaska to stay."
Jones says that Son-i-Hat (who was also known as Wilson Peele) stayed at the Exhibition for a significant period of time, possibly up to two years, giving demonstrations and selling items to the visitors. He eventually returned to Kasaan, where he died in 1912.
What happened to the pole when the exhibition was over is not clear. Jones said it was probably sold again to a private collector. What is known is that eventually ended up at a lumber yard owned by Joshua Marks, a builder who was involved with the movie industry and helped build the famous Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard among other properties.
It is believed the pole was eventually consigned to the scrap heap in the early 1950s and was destined to be sawed up but then fate intervened.
In 1951, Ralph Altman purchased the pole for the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and the pole was shipped to Colorado, where it spent the next half century in the center's courtyard. In 2006, the pole was taken down because there were concerns about its stability. It was then decided to not put it back up. There were discussions between the center and Kasaan about the fate of the pole, but Kasaan did not have the money to bring it home.
Jones said he became aware of the pole about a decade ago and was interested in seeing it come home. He returned to Kasaan about three years ago and began working with both Tlingit Haida and Sealaska to see if the pole could be repatriated. Last year, Sealaska came up with the $69,000 needed to bring it back. Robert Rinehart, Kevin Schaefer and Elias Duran of Tlingit Haida and Matthew Carle of Sealaska were the main movers behind the project, Jones said.
Besides the 50+ foot height of the pole, its weight is a challenge in transport and storage, Jones said, because at some point the hollow back of the pole was filled with concrete to "stabilize" it.
He said it is not likely the pole will be able to stand on its own again, but that it will be displayed inside the cultural center in Kasaan. There isn't a specific "ceremony" for the return of a totem pole, but Jones said there will events beginning at 1 pm on November 5, including a salmon bake, which will include a ceremonial plate for the spirit of the pole.
"We have never had anything repatriated to our village before, let alone a massive frontal house pole," Jones said recently. "This is absolutely epic. It's quite a story. We look forward to this being a new beginning, that we can build upon to celebrate the history and culture of Kasaan."

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