KETCHIKAN -- A Tlingit carver originally from Ketchikan is making a totem pole that will be raised this fall in Washington, D.C., in honor of Civilian Conservation Corps carvers who replicated numerous traditional poles in the 1930s.
Israel Shotridge was commissioned by the U.S. Forest Service to carve the 12-foot pole, which will stand in the agency's "Hall of Tribal Nations" exhibit.
In a phone interview from his studio on Vashon Island in Washington state, Shotridge said the pole will feature images that represent the three Native groups of Southeast Alaska: Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian.
The base will be a relief-carved bentwood box with five images, including a wolf figure. A carver wearing a brown bear headdress will sit on the lid of the box. Scrollwork will be above the carver, and above the scrollwork will be two salmon.
A raven figure with a frog on its head will top off the pole, Shotridge said. Between the raven's wings will sit a human figure with an eagle's face, holding a copper shield with the insignia of the U.S. Forest Service.
Shotridge said he chose images that are common to the three Native groups because Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian carvers participated in the CCC replication project. The raven and eagle are the primary moieties for the three nations, he said, and faces on the raven's wings represent tribal elders. The frog is a sub clan crest of the raven and plays a spiritual, helpful role in Native folklore.
Shotridge recently finished roughing out the pole with his "secret" tool -- a chain saw -- and began detail work.
A pole-raising ceremony is planned for Sept. 22 in Washington, D.C., with Shotridge, his family and some Ketchikan representatives participating.
