Visitor Center Lobby Exhibits at Sitka National Historical Park

Each beautifully carved and painted cultural item displayed in the visitor center lobby contains a secret. Meanings of symbolic and historic importance aren’t easily understood at first glance when they are imbedded in the Northwest Coast tradition of formline art. The artwork tells of overcoming cultural suppression, of representation, of clan rivalry, of community, of legends, and of substantial events that happened long before people started recording their histories on paper.