Chief Johnson Totem Pole

Totem poles are carved to honor deceased ancestors and to record history, social events, and oral tradition, and they were never worshipped as religious objects. This replica, carved by Israel Shotridge and raised in 1989, reproduces the Chief Johnson, or Kajuk, Totem Pole that was raised in this general location in 1901 for the Ganaxadi Tlingit of the Raven moiety of the Tanta Kwan (Tongass) group. The original memorial pole stood until 1982. Except for Kajuk atop the pole, the figures symbolize a single story about Raven. Fog Woman is identified with the summer salmon run when fog lies at the mouth of streams, and she produces all salmon and causes them to return to the creeks of their birth.

Saxman, Alaska · United States