Raven at the Head of Nass Pole at Totem Bight
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 Raven at the Head of Nass Pole was carved by Charles Brown with the assistance of a team of Civilian Conservation Corps Native carvers. This totem is a reproduction of a Tlingit pole located on Tongass Island. A 2013 Department of Natural Resources, Master Development Plan for Totem Bight describes the characteristics and history of the totem: “The top figure on this pole is a chief wearing a spruce root hat. The figure at the bottom of the pole is Raven-at- the-head-of-Nass, from whom Raven stole daylight. The human above Raven-at-the-head-of-Nass represents the ancestors of the Raven clan who benefited from the theft. The space between the top figure and the figures below represent high regard held for the chief.”
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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