Last updated: August 30, 2024
Place
Hydaburg Totem Park
Photograph by Doreen Witwer, courtesy of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
Quick Facts
Location:
Hydaburg, Alaska
Significance:
Ethnic Heritage/Native American, Recreation and Culture
Designation:
Listed in the National Register – Reference Number 06000491
The Hydaburg Totem Park is located in Hydaburg, Alaska. Established in 1939, the park preserves the totemic art of Pacific Northwest Coast Haida people. The park includes 21 totem poles, three carved before 1939 and moved to the site at that time, 16 carved between 1939 and 1942, two carved in 1971 to replace two that were carved before 1939, and one carved stone figure.
The Haida are indigenous Pacific Northwest Coast people. During the 1700s, Haida people migrated north to Prince of Wales Island, a predominantly Tlingit peoples' area, from the Queen Charlotte Islands to the south. The Haida people were known for their abilities to carve canoes and house posts from red cedar, and the Tlingit people were known to hire them to do so. Haida people from the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia and Dali and Prince of Wales islands in Southeast Alaska have oral histories indicating that the tradition of carving poles, monuments, and houseposts is ancient among their people. The figures carved on the poles generally represent ancestors and supernatural beings once encountered by them.
In the 1930s, the U.S. Government established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a Depression-era jobs program. In Alaska, the U.S. Forest Service used the program to provide jobs for local residents and to get recreational and cultural projects done in the Tongass and Chugach national forests. In Southeast Alaska, the agency hired Native carvers in 1938 to move old poles from abandoned village sites, restore them and, if that was not possible, carve replicas. Additionally, they requested them to carve new poles. Hydaburg was one of the Southeast Alaska communities the Forest Service chose for a totem park. Other communities chosen included Kasaan, Saxman, Ketchikan, Klawock, Wrangell, and Sitka. In all, 48 old poles were restored, 54 duplicated, and 19 new poles carved.
In 1939, the Hydaburg city council reserved land in the center of town for the park. Forest Service architect Linn Forest laid out the totem park on the 125 by 250-foot reserved area. Walter Aiken was the CCC project foreman. Chris Burdick, assistant regional forester, made agreements with the people of Klinkwan, Hydaburg, Klawock Creek, and Sukkwan for the transfer of the poles to the park. CCC workers brought 21 totem poles—nine from Howkan, five from Klinkwan, one from Sukkwan, and one from Kolanglas—to Hydaburg. Five of the poles were repaired and placed in the park. The carvers repaired and carved the poles in the basement of town hall. John Wallace, whose grandfather and father had been respected Haida artists at Klinkwan, was the head carver. The CCC project ended in 1942.
The original configuration of the park and placement of poles and monuments at the site have not changed since its establishment in 1939. Over the years the poles at the park have been repaired and painted several times.
Today, the park is open to the public.
Link to National Register of Historic Places file.
The Haida are indigenous Pacific Northwest Coast people. During the 1700s, Haida people migrated north to Prince of Wales Island, a predominantly Tlingit peoples' area, from the Queen Charlotte Islands to the south. The Haida people were known for their abilities to carve canoes and house posts from red cedar, and the Tlingit people were known to hire them to do so. Haida people from the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia and Dali and Prince of Wales islands in Southeast Alaska have oral histories indicating that the tradition of carving poles, monuments, and houseposts is ancient among their people. The figures carved on the poles generally represent ancestors and supernatural beings once encountered by them.
In the 1930s, the U.S. Government established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) as a Depression-era jobs program. In Alaska, the U.S. Forest Service used the program to provide jobs for local residents and to get recreational and cultural projects done in the Tongass and Chugach national forests. In Southeast Alaska, the agency hired Native carvers in 1938 to move old poles from abandoned village sites, restore them and, if that was not possible, carve replicas. Additionally, they requested them to carve new poles. Hydaburg was one of the Southeast Alaska communities the Forest Service chose for a totem park. Other communities chosen included Kasaan, Saxman, Ketchikan, Klawock, Wrangell, and Sitka. In all, 48 old poles were restored, 54 duplicated, and 19 new poles carved.
In 1939, the Hydaburg city council reserved land in the center of town for the park. Forest Service architect Linn Forest laid out the totem park on the 125 by 250-foot reserved area. Walter Aiken was the CCC project foreman. Chris Burdick, assistant regional forester, made agreements with the people of Klinkwan, Hydaburg, Klawock Creek, and Sukkwan for the transfer of the poles to the park. CCC workers brought 21 totem poles—nine from Howkan, five from Klinkwan, one from Sukkwan, and one from Kolanglas—to Hydaburg. Five of the poles were repaired and placed in the park. The carvers repaired and carved the poles in the basement of town hall. John Wallace, whose grandfather and father had been respected Haida artists at Klinkwan, was the head carver. The CCC project ended in 1942.
The original configuration of the park and placement of poles and monuments at the site have not changed since its establishment in 1939. Over the years the poles at the park have been repaired and painted several times.
Today, the park is open to the public.
Link to National Register of Historic Places file.