The rainforest lived up to its reputation, with a steady rain falling by the time we reached Ketchikan. We came prepared, though, with raincoats and hats. Our ship, Viking’s Orion, had loaner umbrellas, but it is hard to juggle a camera with an umbrella, so we ventured out with only our raincoats. This day’s shore excursion involved a guided tour of Potlatch Park to see totem poles and other carvings, and to see how they were made. Here are a few photos:
Potlatch Park is a privately owned display of native American totem poles and similar types of woodwork. The place was informational, and our guide did his best to educate us about the meaning of the carvings in the indigenous cultures that created them. The park has its touristy side to pay the bills, and here we are standing under an arch made for photo-ops.This is a replica of a lodge house (my words, since I did not take notes and cannot recall exact titles). An extended family of perhaps 20 or more people would live in a house like this. The rocky pit in the middle would hold a fire for heating, light, and cooking; the raised platform around the fire pit provided a place out of the rain for men, women, and children to eat, sleep, and work. Carved pillars holding up the roof might represent some of the family history, or maybe elements of their religious beliefs.A reasonably well-maintained totem pole. Each pole told a story of sorts. Recurring figures included ravens, eagles, bears, owls, fish, whales (orcas), or people. This pole looks to include an owl at the top and a raven at the base. Unrestored wooden dugout canoe, gradually deteriorating in the rainforest climate.Two more totem poles, not as well maintained. The original colors came from berries, minerals, or other natural pigments that could be found within a reasonable distance. Our guide noted that totem restorers these days are more likely to go to the nearest hardware store for paints with the correct colors.Murals carved on the ends of buildings often told stories or commemorated major events. Like other cultures world wide, the indigenous people had oral traditions with their beliefs about the origin of humanity, an epic flood, and so on. The story in this culture was that a raven plucked man from an oyster at the beginning of time, and this was the start of humankind. Like most other creation stories, this acknowledged that humans had to come from somewhere, but did not explain where the raven or oyster came from, or how the world started. Oh, well…But wait! What is a potlatch? A potlatch is a big feast, or party, that a chief held for a guest of honor. A totem pole would later commemorate the guest of honor by including him in the story told by the pole. The carving of the guest of honor showed him with a hat, like in the figure above. The number of brims on the hat indicates the number of potlatches held in his honor. Two brims means two separate potlatches, and so on. There was also a bit of a catch: if a chief held a potlatch in your honor, you were expected to reciprocate by throwing a party in his honor at a later date. If you did not live up to that social obligation, your carving would be painted with red cheeks and a red nose to shame you. The fellow above has a red coat, but not a red face, so apparently he was OK.Our stay in Ketchikan was all too short, and by the time the weather started to clear we were on our way back out to sea, headed south for a day of sailing through the Inside Passage.
