A totem pole honoring the 60th anniversary of the Rasmuson Foundation was raised in Yakutat on Monday. The 12-foot, 2,300-pound pole was commissioned by the foundation and erected in collaboration with the Yakutat Tlingit Tribe, reflecting the Rasmuson family's connection to Yakutat.
Edward Anton (E.A.) Rasmuson and Jenny Olson met and married in the early 1900s when they were both working in the village. She was a missionary; he was a teacher. They lived there for 10 years. Edward Rasmuson later become the president of the Bank of Alaska, subsequently managed by his son, Elmer Rasmuson, who was born in Yakutat in 1909.
Jenny Rasmuson established the foundation in 1955 to honor her husband, who died in 1949.
The totem, carved by Fred Bemis with assistance from David Boxley Jr., features an eagle topped by a raven. Various clans of the area are represented on those two figures. A human image representing E.A. Rasmuson is shown on the eagle. Jenny Rasmuson is depicted above him, with the raven, holding her son Elmer.