The Yaadaas Crest Pole on a wintery evening at sunset.
NPS Photo/ Cinnamon Dockham
The park's visitor center and trails contain several different types of poles:
House posts, which were carved as support poles of Tlingit and Haida houses;
Frontal poles, which were placed against or near the front of a house; and
Detached poles, which were place anywhere in or near villages.
They generally convey the ancestry (crest poles) or history (history poles) of a particular clan, folklore or real-life experiences (legend poles), or commemorate a person of importance (memorial/mortuary poles).
Learn more about the history of poles in the park on these pages:
In 1976, Sitka National Historical Park marked the nation’s bicentennial with a new direction. Although earlier poles had been carved and raised in the park by Civilian Conservation Corps carvers, the newly carved CCC poles were replicas of earlier poles from elsewhere in Southeast Alaska. In an era of growing Native pride, the Bicentennial Pole project set out to tell a modern story using a traditional format.
Memorial and mortuary columns were common pole types found in Southeast Alaska. Memorial poles, along with house posts, are among the oldest forms of totem poles.
Totem poles stand through time recalling past events. As you begin your journey at the entrance to the temperate rainforest, you are a witness in another time.
You will experience some of the skills of these creative and talented artists, of their forest and ocean world, and of their respect for every living thing in it.
This pole is unusual in that it includes crest figures from both Raven and Eagle moieties. It is intended to be a public display of unity, putting old clan differences aside and working for the good of all Tlingit people.
The pole’s Tlingit name translates roughly, “Our grandparents who were the very first people to use Indian River and the other people who were here, too.”
In 1804, the Tlingit Kiks.adi clan fought a key battle against invading Russian forces at the mouth of Indian River. The K’alyáan Pole is a memorial to those Kiks.adi people who lost their lives in the conflict. It is named after K’alyáan, the legendary warrior who led the battle.
The figures on this Kaigani Haida pole represent three Tlingit legends, the most interesting of which is depicted by the figure at the bottom with a creature in its mouth. It is the history of how a clan acquired the woodworm as its crest.
Raven is portrayed on this memorial column, distinguished by his rather large, slightly crooked beak. The person being honored by the erection of this pole was of the Raven moiety.
