Mellon Foundation awards $2.9 million for Juneau totem pole trail

December 31, 2021

Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau has announced a $2.9 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in support of a totem pole trail project.

The grant will enable SHI to commission ten totem poles comprising the initial part of Kootéeyaa Deiyí (totem pole trail) along the downtown Juneau waterfront. SHI will hire Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian master artists in Juneau and villages across southeast Alaska to carve the poles, which will be raised in 2023. The institute’s ultimate goal is to commission a total of thirty poles to be raised along the trail.

While the priority for the ten poles will be Áak’w Kwáan and T’aaku Kwáan clans, those representing clans that settled in the Áak’w village during the historic period also will be included, along with Haida and Tsimshian poles. Each totem pole will feature a story board that identifies the clan, crests, and information related to the artwork. Since the initial planning stages of the project, SHI has consulted with Fran Houston, spokesperson for the Áak’w and member of the L’eeneidí and the Yaxtehíttaan, and Lillian Petershoare of the Yanyeidí clan.

“Our traditional poles historically dominated the shorelines of our ancestral homelands and told the world who we were. It’s fitting that our totems will be one of the first things people see while sailing into Juneau,” said SHI president Rosita Worl.

(Photo credit: Fernando Jorge via Unsplash)
Source: PND

Thank you for reading!