Sailor posing with the Man Wearing Bear Hat, 1949-1951
Original caption reads: "Portrait of a crewmember of the U.S.C.G. Bittersweet and a totem." Source: Alaska's Digital Archives, Lawrence Eastman photographs, 1949-1951. UAA-HMC-1050. Holding Institution: University of Alaska Anchorage. Consortium Library. Archives & Special Collections.
Description
The Man Wearing Bear Hat is a reproduction of a Tlingit grave marker or mortuary pole from Cat Island. According to a 2013 Department of Natural Resources Master Development Plan for Totem Bight, the totem represents “a man of the Bear clan wearing a large carved wooden hat surmounted by a bear’s head. Such a hat was worn at a potlatch or other important occasions during which stories were told or dramatized. Charles Brown carved the first copy of this pole in the late 1930s. Israel Shotridge carved a second replica in 1995. “
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Source: Nancy Simmerman Photographs, Alaska’s Digital Archives. Holding Institution: University of Alaska Anchorage. Consortium Library. Archives & Special Collections.
Man Wearing Bear Hat Detail
Source: Nancy Simmerman Photographs, Alaska's Digital Archives. Holding Institution: University of Alaska Anchorage. Consortium Library. Archives & Special Collections.
Source notes
Garfield, Viola and Linn Forrest, 1961, The Wolf and the Raven, Seattle: University of Washington Press, p. 71-99. Totem Bight State Historical Park, Master Development Plan, Department of Natural Resources, 2013, accessed July 15, 2017. Totem Bight State Historic Site, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 1970, accessed July 15, 2017.
Project originally submitted by Brent McKee; Steve Forrest (with documentation courtesy of Linn Forrest) on July 20, 2017.
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