A totem pole that was carved more than fifty years in the past in the hands of Chilkoot artists is headed back to. It is currently with a cross-country journey and will be arriving at Chilkat Valley in the near future. Chilkat Valley in the near future, following a long stay at Delta Air Lines’ museum.
The work on the totem pole was recorded in an old black-and white photograph. The image shows the carvers sitting on the pole, working on the final touches to an impressive face. The sign says “Chilkoot Indian Carvers” and the photo dates back to March 1969.
Chilkoot Indian Association Tribal Administrator Harriet Brouillette said this week she recognizes the carvers on the photo.
“I can see Wes Willard in the photo along with John Hagen, and Carl Heinmiller.” Brouillette told the media.
Delta Brouillette received the image after the company inquired with her regarding the totem pole she had seen last summer.
“They claimed to have the pole, which was designed in the name of AIA,” Brouillette said.
According to Brouillette AIA is a reference to Haines non-profit Alaska Indian Arts.
“They believe that, in the 1960s the pole was built in California during a conference on tourism,” she said. “And the pole is stored in the warehouse of Georgia.”
The pole is located at the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. Brouillette was contacted by museum staff wanting to take back the pole.
According to its website the director of exhibits Nina Thomas wrote that museum staff believed that the pole was not in the museum of aeronautics and that it should be understood by an “cultural institution that has expertise in Western indigenous people’s histories.”
Museum staff informed Brouillette that they will ship the pole Haines which she explained the group is now able to house the pole at Haines’ Fort Seward.
“And it couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time since we recently received our parade grounds back along with the tribal home,” she said.
The group also been awarded National Park Service funds to build a new tribal house at the parade site that has been degrading for a long time. Brouillette believes it’s the perfect spot to display the pole.
The pole stands 14 feet high. Two faces are carved on the bottom. A beaver is positioned on the top.
Lee Heinmiller, the director of Alaska Indian Arts, has some details on how Delta ended up on the pole. When he was a kid, Heinmiller was part of the Chilkat Dancers, a traditional dance group. They traveled all over the world to display the culture of the language.
“When we traveled with the dancers as well as the carvers, we would use a pole that was partially finished at the World’s Fair, or to trade shows and travel events as well as dance and carve the pole and then finish it,” Heinmiller said. “And then, the airline would eventually keep the pole to provide us with transport.”
Based on the Delta museum’s website The pole was given by Western Airlines. It was erected at the entrance of the Western office at Los Angeles until 1987, when Western Airlines merged with Delta. Delta then transferred this pole into its own museum.
In the photos the pole appears to be well preserved. The red paint is to be fading. Heinmiller claimed that it could have been painted over.
“It’s sporting a bit of green on it, which appears more forest-like than the blue-green we normally use,” Heinmiller said. “So I’m assuming that somewhere some time in the last thirty or forty years,, somebody might have painted it again, or at the very least, they painted the blue color, since blue color disappears the fastest.”
Brouillette told the Observer that she was working to her local Atlanta museum to transport her totem pole.
“Once we had settled on the logistics of transportation as well as crating we chose an appointment,” she said. “And that pole got taken care of this morning, and is currently moving towards its destination.”
This pole currently being transported by truck headed to Seattle and from there, it will be moved via barge to Haines. Because it’s quite short Brouillette says it will be a good fit in the tribal house when it has been updated.
Heinmiller claimed that there are other poles similar to the one that are headed towards Haines across the country with a similar story.
“I believe there are some smaller ones, as well as the largest one we did which Alaska Airlines kept — I’m not sure where the other one can be found,” he said. “In the last few years, a couple of poles that we’ve made in the past have been found in the possession of someone else and they’ve contacted us and asked”When was this done? So and so purchased it in the beginning of the 1970s. Then I’ve been going through the archive and trying to find out what happened.”
According to Heinmiller the materials found in Haines could indicate how a pole was cut.
“We have pictures of the bulk of it, and information on who was involved in the items,” he said. “They can all be labeled, but it’s a massive pile to look through 50 years worth of storage boxes.”
Brouillette has said that work on the structure of the tribal house will be completed at the end of summer next year. Following that, the replacement of the carvings will take a year or two years.
