Saxman Totem Park
Since the major mode of transportation was the water, totem poles usually faced the water, much as our modern day signs face the road.
This is the Beaver Clan house & the totem pole associated with it; the beaver figure is at the top of the pole & the black oval near the top of the pole is its tail.
A potlatch is a huge multi-day celebration hosted by a chief & his clan. Planning can take up to 3 years, & a significant portion of the clan's resources go into it, as the feasting is extensive & many gifts are presented. A potlatch can be held to honor a person's life, cement relationships between neighboring villages, & such. If one village holds a potlatch for another village, the tradition is for the reciprocal potlatch to be even more lavish. When Wm Seward, who arranged for the US to buy Alaska from the Russians, came to Alaska, 4 different potlatches were held for him, as the Americans were treating the Natives better than the Russians had. When he did not reciprocate in any way by sending gifts or such, the locals were insulted.
This totem pole was completed in 1892 & dedicated to a local chief. It stood for many years in the middle of this totem park, but after it started to tip, it was laid down. The upside-down figure with the yellow face is thought to be Wm Seward, as yellow is an inappropriate color for a face. The fellow in the blue hat on the other pole is Wm Seward atop a pole made for his last potlatch; the rings on the hat symbolize the 4 individual potlatches. Several years later, when he had not reciprocated in any way, his lips, nose, & ears were painted red to mark his shame. (There are several slight variations on this story, but the gist is always the same.)
The rainforest here is beautiful.
the airport
The town of Ketchikan is squeezed between a narrow channel of water & very steep mountains. Consequently, the airport is actually across the cannel on another island, & a ferry runs continually between the town & the island. There's not much else over there.
The first pic is from the mountainside on the outskirts of town, & the other one shows the ferry in front of the airport buildings.
misc
I noted these little free-standing coffee shops in an earlier post, but this one features excellent seafood. A handwritten sign in the window in the morning says, "We aren't open for breakfast because we're out catching lunch." This one is located away from the cruise ship docks & tourist sites & is frequented by locals.
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Wildlife sightings (not counting those in the conservation preserve or the aquarium)
--> --> today: 3 Sitka deer
--> --> trip total so far:
black bears - 25 deer - 13 (11 Sitka) grizzlies - 1 moose - 8
stone sheep - 8 elk - 1 caribou - 15 bison - 42
Dall sheep - 11 porcupines -1 mountain goats - 1 lynx - 1
trumpeter swans - 32+ many bald eagles black oyster catcher - 1 (rare)
sea otters - 27 harbor seals - many, many orcas - 1
many sea stars & jelly fish Dall's porpoise - ~ 20
North Pacific Humpback whales - 2 pods of ~ 12 each + 1
Stellar's sea lions - many, 100+ incl 60 pups in 1 spot (counted by scientists)
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