Totem Bight, ten miles north of Ketchikan via the North Tongass Highway, is a state historical park that contains restored and re-carved totems as well as a colorful community house. Just as impressive as the totems is the park's wooded setting and the coastline. A viewing deck overlooks the Tongass Narrows with lush rainforest bordering the rocky coastline.
With the growth of non-Native settlements in Southeast Alaska in the early 1900s in conjunction with the decline of a barter economy, Alaska's indigenous people migrated 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 Service began a program designed to salvage and restore these large cedar monuments. Skilled carvers from among elder Tlingit and Haida Indians were hired for the project. As a result young artisans learned the art of carving totem poles and totems that had been left to rot in the woods were either repaired or duplicated.
The project grew into the construction of a model Native village that incorporated original pieces repaired or reproduced with new cedar logs. Tools for carving were handmade, samples of Native paints were created from natural substances and every attempt was made for authenticity.
By World War II the community house was complete and 15 poles were erected. In 1959, the site passed from the federal government to the State of Alaska and in 1970 was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Clan House represents a structure that may have housed 30 to 50 people and is symbolized by carved house posts, designs on the house fronts and stylized painting. Designs on houses were rare and occurred only in cases of great wealth. Each totem pole represents a story or event and is sometimes interpreted differently by different clans and communities.
For more information:
Ketchikan Ranger Station
9883 N. Tongass Highway
Ketchikan, AK 99901
907-247-8574
http://www.dnr.state.ak.us/parks/units/totembgh.htm