SITKA, ALASKA

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“Everybody that has come to this ceremony, I’m very glad that you’re here to witness the coming of an end of an era for this pole…”

 Nels Lawson led the gathering of about fifty people, as they stood in a howling rainstorm in Totem Square.

 “When I was thinking about it this morning, listening to the weather forecasts. Gusts to seventy miles an hour. I thought about that some more. (Our Creator) is sending us a message today. A message about the pole, and a message about the controversy: Let that blow away from us today. Let that leave us when the wind is blowing amongst us. Let us remember why it was put up in the first place. Let that be dear to our hearts. We must do that, if we are to preserve the knowledge, customs and traditions, that the elders have placed in our hands.”

The pole was raised in 1942 by the Forest Service, and was intended to honor Sitka’s history – including the shared past of the Tlingit and Russians. The topmost figure on the pole is Alexander Baranov, the chief manager of the Russian-American Company.

For some at the gathering, like Duck Didrickson, leader of the Herring Rock House, the pole is a decades-old affront.

 “This was our land here. Where the Herring Rock is there used to be an old Kiksadi house over one-hundred years ago. Little by little, we’re losing our land. I’m the only one alive who can say ‘I was born and raised and still living in the Indian Village.’ The Indian Village is my home. We’ve got to keep the old ways – that’s what we’re losing.”

 The Forest Service may not have followed correct protocol in commissioning the pole. It was carved by members of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Wrangell. It’s possible that the objections of Sitka elders at the time were overlooked in the wartime bureaucracy. Nevertheless, some leaders like Fred Hope – who remembers when it was installed — consider the pole to be a powerful statement about the Tlingit and their traditional home.

 “I didn’t attend the opening ceremony, but I enjoyed seeing it there every day. It became a part of our lives. Everytime you came from the village, you looked at that corner and saw the pole and said ‘That is us.’”

The pole is coming down to be assessed by carver Tommy Joseph and professional wood conservators. It will be stored at the Geodetic House. Totem Square will get a makeover next spring, with improved access, seating, and repairs to the top of the historic seawall. The square was transferred to the state in 1973, and is officially under the management of the Department of Health and Social Services, which oversees the Pioneer Home.

Whether or not the original pole is reinstalled at the site remains to be seen.  A replica might be put up instead – perhaps an altogether new pole. The problem is this: The Baranov totem was possibly a mistake, but it is now a historic mistake. The state was represented at the ceremony by Jennifer Klein. She said her main concerns now were preserving the pole, and the safety of the area and the seawall. She left the future open.

 “We’re going to take it one day at a time, and listen to you all as to what you want to do.”

 Contractors will make a second attempt to remove the pole after the winds die down next week.

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