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Hundreds gather to honor Alaska Native veterans during unveiling of memorial totem pole
- Jasz Garrett
- 3 days ago
- 9 min read
‘Your very presence makes them happy for what they did.’
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
A new totem pole honoring those who served in the military and active-duty members is now standing at the Southeast Alaska Native Veterans Memorial Park downtown.
Hundreds of people gathered near the renovated park to honor those who served in the military on June 3 and watched the newly replicated Veterans Totem Pole be unveiled for the first time. The memorial pole honors the strength, service, and dedication of Alaska Native veterans, according to the Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska.
“Since we put this memorial in every single day, every single day, I watch people come take pictures, they sit — I have to think they're probably reflecting on either a lost loved one who served or somebody who is serving now,” Tlingit and Haida President Chalyee Éesh Richard Peterson told the crowd. “And so it's an honor to host this for our veterans.”
The long-term plan for the memorial park is to add another totem pole and install name placards on the park's walls.
“Your presence matters,” Peterson said. “Showing up and showing our veterans that we love them matters. And so don't discount yourselves either. You hold us up, they hold us up. That's what our culture is based on, is that reciprocity of balance, and so we just thank you for being here today.”
The original memorial pole came from Sitka 15 years ago, carved by George Bennett and his son as a gift for World War II and Korea veterans. Peterson asked veteran and master carver Jon Rowan to replace the totem pole after the wood deteriorated due to harsh weather. The new pole is enlarged from six feet to 12 feet.
“It’s a powerful moment, especially being a veteran myself, to hear my brothers get up and speak real life into it,” Rowan said in an interview.
He spent four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, from 1982 to 1986, mostly in Okinawa, Japan, before surveying out in North Carolina at Camp Lejeune.
“My father was an Army veteran, so was my uncle. A lot of my cousins were in the Army, and it was just a natural thing for me to join, and I know for a fact it's changed my way of thinking,” he said. “I grew up with a lot of different guys, and sad to say, some of them are gone now, but this way of thinking, the Marine Corps way of thinking, has served me so well in my life and made me successful.”
He said the Marine Corps taught him there’s no challenge he can’t meet.
Lea Armour, 18, was his apprentice for the carving. The two traveled from Klawock for the ceremony. She said she’s been learning from her uncle for five years, and for this project, she was the painter.
“It was just an amazing thing to do, and I just felt very honored that I was able to work with him on it,” Armour said.
The carving for the replicated totem pole, or kootéeyaa, began last August. The red cedar kootéeyaa is traditional formline. Rowan said he tried to stay as close to the original design as possible. An Eagle and Raven represent both nations, and stand on a bentwood box with a spirit face inside.
“The story’s told when they get up and speak about it,” he said. “When you just look at it, it's just an eagle and a raven standing on the box. But when these gentlemen got up and spoke, they're the ones that put the life into it and why it’s called what it is.”
The three-hour-long unveiling ceremony featured several speakers, many of them veterans, and dances from various groups. It opened with a posting of colors by the Southeast Alaska Native Veterans group, followed by an invocation.
Carolyn Noe invited all Kaagwaantan attending the veterans' totem pole ceremony to stand at the front of the park with her while she gave a speech before unveiling her own tribute. About 50 people from the crowd gathered around her as she spoke.
The totem pole remained under cover while she unfolded a blanket. Noe said she has many veteran family members, along with a grandson currently serving in the U.S. Army. Her late husband, a Vietnam veteran, suggested she create this project.
“I'm so proud to be a yun wāa shāā, a sailor woman, being able to present something of importance to let our veterans know that we truly support them 150% and that we show the highest respect to them because they wear their colors and they wear their patches of how they serve, whether it was in the Army, the Air Force, the Navy, the Marines, or the Coast Guard — they wear their colors like we wear our family crests,” Noe said.
As she sewed each button, Noe said she thought about all who have passed on. The last button was sewn the night before the ceremony.
“Thinking of each person that's no longer here with us, but also remembering all the ones that fought strong and hard for every single one of us to stay free,” she said.
The blanket was draped over the shoulders of Southeast Alaska Native Veterans Cmdr. Ozzie Sheakley.
After a dance from the Kaagwaantan group and remarks from carvers and Sheakley about the memorial kootéeyaa, it was unveiled in celebration with a traditional carver’s dance by the Yaaw Tei Yi Dance Group.
“It's hard on the mothers, the fathers, the children that are left behind,” said veteran Tiny Barril before helping unwrap the totem pole for the first time. “Some came home and some came home the hard way. Those of us who survived the war still carry the wounds: Agent Orange, thyroid diseases, heart diseases, mental diseases. We’ll carry these wounds ‘til the day they put us in the ground.”
He said in the meantime, they are on the other side of the grass.
During the carver’s dance, U.S. Army veteran William Kanosh, 89, looked up at bald eagles circling overhead. Ravens were also drawn toward the memorial park as songs began. He clutched a cedar cross crafted by Noe around his neck.
“Just before the song ended this present day, there's an eagle up there flying around twice, thanking us. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your freedom,” he told the Independent. “The animals understand us.”
After the unveiling and carver’s dance concluded, Aanyáanáx Ray Wilson, 93, was presented with a Charlie Joseph Sr. (Kaal.ātk’) Award by Shee Atiká. The award was given to Wilson, a Korean War veteran, for devoting his life to preserving traditional knowledge and sharing his cultural values through teaching and storytelling. Wilson also recently received a doctorate from the University of Alaska Southeast.
Lt. Gen. Robert Davis, commander for the Alaskan NORAD Region/Alaskan Command and Eleventh Air Force, was invited to speak by the Southeast Alaska Native Veterans as a special guest. He visited from Anchorage. He served in the military for 30 years.
“Alaska Native peoples have been stewards of this region since time immemorial. Your connection to the land runs deep,” Davis said. “Through adversity, you've shown resilience. Your commitment to tradition is a source of strength for all of us. The values that guide your communities — honor, service, respect — are the same values that guide our military. We're united by a sense of duty and a commitment to something greater than ourselves.”
Davis, like Peterson, recognized that Alaska has the highest concentration of veterans in the nation and Alaska Natives make up a high number of them.
Frank Lee, who was a part of the Southeast Alaska Native Veterans color guard, served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1972 to 1974. He said not many people know the history of Tlingit people defeating the Russians in war in the 1800s.
“Then we had to fight for America again to help keep our country,” Lee said, looking at the unveiled kootéeyaa. “Our forefathers fought for this country, Southeast (Alaska) long before we. It’s quite an honor for all the veterans to be recognized now. It’s long overdue.”
Lee was surprised to see the large turnout of people for the unveiling of the totem pole. He said for a long time, he didn’t want to let anyone know he was a veteran.
“All the Vietnam vets got spit on, called baby killers and everything,” he said in an interview. “I never went to ‘Nam, but I didn’t want to let anyone know I was a veteran because of that. I took off my uniform and threw it in the garbage and put on my civvies. It wasn’t until the late 1990s that they finally started welcoming us home.”
At the memorial ceremony, he said, “Now it feels good to be a vet.” Lee added the totem pole honors “all the ones that never came home.”
L’eiwtú Éesh Herman Davis, 92, shared a similar sentiment. He attended the ceremony when the original veterans’ pole by George Bennett was raised. On June 3, he reflected on his service in the Marine Corps as a jet engine mechanic.
“Thank you all for being here for this day. I thank everybody that's here, Native or non-Native,” he told the crowd. “Thank you all, because your very presence makes them happy for what they did. You made them all happy, and I thank you all for that.”
Davis said the totem pole is meant for those who passed away in the military and those who were killed on the battlefield.
“They’re all in the totem pole,” he said. “Now they’re all looking at you to defend the United States of America.”
Davis grew emotional at the close of the ceremony and sang “Memory Eternal” in Russian with Fr. Maxim Gibson. The Orthodox song beseeches God to have mercy on those who have fallen. The two held hands in remembrance with the memorial pole and crowd rising tall around them.
At the end of the ceremony, the rest of the audience members were encouraged to stand up and hold hands during a closing prayer led by Dennis Jack, who was a preacher in Angoon for almost 12 years at the Presbyterian Church.
“To me, every time I see a veteran, I stand proud, just as proud as they use their uniform,” he said. “I couldn't just sit back and say nothing, because I had a brother that died drinking to forget what he had to do. This was the only way that I could get up and say what I want to say — that I'll close this part of this holiday for our veterans.”
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.
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