Totem ceremonies bring hundreds together in Wrangell to celebrate and remember

(All photos by Jonathon Dawe / Wrangell Sentinel)

By Jonathon Dawe

Wrangell Sentinel

One side pulls while the other side is told to hold tension in the line. Men grunt and struggle as they push against the large pole while men and women pull on the lines, all working together to maintain the balance needed to raise the large Kadashan pole at Totem Park on Saturday.

Sandy Churchill believes the scene was the perfect metaphor to encapsulate the gathering of hundreds in Wrangell.

"It was about everything being in harmony," she reflected. "If one side was not in harmony with the other side, the pole couldn't be stabilized and raised. It's a wonderful example of everyone coming and working together."

For the first time in 38 years, Tlingit and Haida came together in Wrangell from throughout Southeast and celebrated the unveiling of five new totem poles: three on Shakes Island, one at the post office and one at Totem Park.

In addition to the totem ceremonies, the high school gym accommodated the hundreds in attendance for dinners and a display of artifacts. The gatherings ran Thursday through Sunday, July 17-20.

Festivities started Thursday evening with the arrival of members of the Kake and Kasaan communities who traveled by canoe to Wrangell to participate in the events. After the visitors arrived at Shakes Island, embraces were exchanged and a smoke ceremony was held behind the Chief Shakes Tribal House, where people burned tobacco as they invoked their ancestors in thoughts and words.

Friday afternoon saw people gather together again at Shakes Island for the unveiling of the Bear Up The Mountain, Gunakaadeit and Underwater Sea Bear poles. As each pole was welcomed, stories were told about the meaning and purpose behind each totem.

The poles had been set in place earlier in the week.

Songs were sung to mark the occasion at the small island in Wrangell's harbor. From there, the large crowd went to the post office for the unveiling of the Killer Whale Grave Marker pole.

The carving team on the grave marker included Mike Aak'wtaatseen Hoyt, who told the crowd that the work was one of the great honors of his life. The grave marker was carved in honor of Shx'atoo, who was hanged after the U.S. Army bombardment of the Wrangell Native village in 1869.

The next day, the large crowd gathered at the Wrangell Cooperative Association Carving Shed, where they ate lunch and gathered to carry the fourth iteration of the Kadashan pole down Front Street to be raised at Totem Park.

With a section of Front Street closed to accommodate the procession, the pole was carried as people sang and danced. After they arrived, the pole was laid to rest momentarily before the arduous task of raising it to stand tall.

Long ropes were wrapped around the pole and the lines stretched out on both sides, as people were encouraged to grab hold of the line and help raise the pole. Instructions were shouted, telling everyone involved when to pull and when to hold as the pole slowly rose from the ground.

As everything was stabilized, the pole quickly rose into place to cheers and applause.

The Kadashan pole represents a powerful symbol of the close ties between the Tlingit and Haida communities. It was originally carved to commemorate a wooden staff that was awarded to Chief Kadashan to commemorate the intermarriages between Haida men and Tlingit women. The previous iteration of the pole was carved in 1940.

"This has all been an amazing experience," said apprentice carver Linda Churchill. "It gave me chills to see each pole in its new place. As I looked, I remembered each part of each pole that I worked on. And to think that generations from now, there will be others who look at the work that so many of us did is exciting."

"There have been a lot of things happening behind the scenes," Albert Rinehart, the WCA's new tribal administrator, explained. "This was just a huge community effort that required a lot of teamwork and a lot of focus."

The new poles replaced totems that had deteriorated over the years.

"The support we got from everyone who came in by canoe, by plane and by ferry is astounding, and this has been a pretty emotional event. Tears were brought to my eyes more than a few times this weekend," Rinehart said.

"It took some strong people to survive and keep our communities going for thousands of years. We owe it to our ancestors to be strong like they were and to keep everything going as well."

The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska transferred $500,000 in U.S. Forest Service funding to the WCA for the carving project.

• This article originally appeared in the Wrangell Sentinel.