According to the Kitsap Sun of Bremerton, Wash., renowned Tsimshian wood carver David Boxley's totem poles stand in his hometown of Metlakatla, Alaska, in Disney World, in the Microsoft headquarters campus in Redmond, Wash., and in Seattle's Museum of History and Industry. But the pole he's finishing up in Washington D.C., at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of the American Indian, has been a dream of his for quite a while.
"This is the one I've been dreaming of doing," he said. "It's an honor for me, my family, the Tsimshian people and all the southeast people from Alaska. It's a big deal for all of us."
Getting a totem pole in the museum, open since 2004, was something of an ordeal. While the building was being planned, Boxley offered to carve a totem pole for it. But he was ignored. He then offered to carve one for free and secured a donation of wood from the Weyerhaeuser Company. Still no response. The successful appeal turned out to be a comment Boxley made in passing to the museum's director during an annual art show.
Boxley and his son, David Boxley Jr, are now putting the finishing touches on the 22-foot-long totem pole telling the story known as "The Eagle and the Young Chief." It will be unveiled on Jan. 14.
Read much, much more from the Kitsap Sun, here, and for even more, check out the Washington Post's report, here, and the Smithsonian's "Around the Mall" blog entry, here.