Chief Son-I-Hat’s Whale House and Totems Historic District, Ha’u Pole – Kasaan AK

Description

Craftsmen enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps restored the original Ha’u Pole. The Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation describes the significance of the figures represented on the pole: “Sources recount that a man from the Tlingit village of Kake carved this pole, as the owners were of Tlingit descent on their mother’s side. The pole belonged to the grandfather of Son-I-Hat who actually had the name “East.” The figures on the pole from the top are described as the “father of us all, ”Raven, killer whale, and Raven with a human figure on front, with Root on the bottom.” Walter Young worked on the restoration of this pole, which once belonged to his father. The pole that now stands in the totem park at NewKasaan is the repaired original pole.”