Totem raising events in Wrangell will span four days this week

Linda Churchill carefully works on July 10, 2025, to finish painting the Bear Up The Mountain totem, which will be among those raised and unveiled at ceremonies this week. (Jonathon Dawe / Wrangell Sentinel)

 By Jonathon Dawe

Wrangell Sentinel

For the first time in 38 years, the Wrangell Native community will raise new totem poles in town, with four days of events planned for Thursday through Sunday, July 17-20.

Unveiling the five new poles marks a significant revival of a centuries-old Tlingit tradition. The event honors the carvers and apprentices who transformed logs into cultural masterpieces, continuing a legacy nearly lost to time.

By the early 1900s, most of the town’s 30 to 40 totem poles had decayed or fallen, and the art of pole carving faded. The last totem pole raised in Wrangell was the Sun House Totem in 1987, carved by Steve Brown and Wayne Price, according to organizers of this week’s events.

This week’s celebration symbolizes a broader cultural resurgence that began with the 2013 rededication of Chief Shakes House and the 2015 completion of the WCA’s Carving Shed on Front Street, the organizers explained.

The new poles were funded in part by the U.S. Army (Gunakaadeit Pole) and organized by the Wrangell Cooperative Association.

The poles and their stories

Each pole tells a story rooted in Tlingit and Haida traditions:

Bear Up The Mountain Pole: A Naanya.aayí X’atgu Hít narrative of survival during a great flood.

Gunakaadeit Pole: A Naanya.aayí X’atgu Naasí Hít tale of a man using a sea monster’s skin to feed his community.

Underwater Sea Bear Pole: A Sik’nax.ádi legend of a mythical good-luck creature.

Killer Whale Grave Marker: A Kayaashkeiditaan tribute to Shx’atoo, who died during the U.S. Army’s 1869 bombardment of the Native village at Wrangell.

Kadashan Pole: A replica of a 1940 pole, originally gifted by Haida relatives to honor intermarriage with Tlingit women in the 1830s.

Master carvers and apprentices

Leading the project are master carvers:

• Joe Young (Haida, Yahgw’laanaas clan), who learned from his grandfather Claude Morrison and carved the Bear Up The Mountain and Gunakaadeit poles.

• Tommy Joseph (Tlingit, Kaagwaantaan clan), a renowned woodcarver behind the Underwater Sea Bear Pole.

• TJ Young (Haida, Yahgw’láanaas clan), lead carver for the Kadashan pole.

Apprentice carvers, including Mike Hoyt, Tony Harding, Linda Churchill and Susie Beebee, also contributed, ensuring the tradition’s future.

Event schedule

The four-day celebration includes ceremonies, dances and communal meals:

• Thursday, July 17: 6 p.m., smoke ceremony at Shakes Island.

• Friday, July 18: Doors open at 10 a.m. at the high school gym; welcome at 11 a.m.; lunch at 12:30 p.m.; unveilings of the Bear Up The Mountain, Underwater Sea Bear and Double Killer Whale Hat poles at Shakes Island; unveiling of the Killer Whale Grave Marker at 3 p.m. at the post office; gifts and a love song at 3:30 p.m. at the high school; dinner at 5:30 p.m. and desserts at 7 p.m. at the high school gym.

• Saturday, July 19: lunch at the WCA Carving Shed at 11:30 a.m., followed by carrying the Kadashan Pole to Totem Park; ceremony at the park at 1 p.m.; welcome and songs and more at 4:30 p.m. at the high school gym.

• Sunday, July 20: Community march from Shakes Island to the Carving Shed at 11:30 a.m., with brunch at 12:30 p.m.

“This is more than art — it’s healing,” said Joe Young. “We’re reclaiming our history.”

• This article originally appeared in the Wrangell Sentinel.