Totem Bight State Historical Park

Totem Bright State Historical Park, in Ketchikan, Alaska, is the only state park dedicated solely to Alaska’s Native heritage. In 1938, a Civilian Conservation Corps program was tasked to salvage and reconstruct cedar totem poles from abandoned Native villages in Southeast Alaska. The 15 poles at the park demonstrate the powerful storytelling of this art from Tlingit and Haida carvers. This illustration resembles the raven wings appearing in the design on the front of the clanhouse. Among the Tlingit, such designs typically signify the crest of their lineages, or reflect episodes in the lives of their ancestors.