Page 22 - 11th World-IFYE-Conference-2018
P. 22
Saxman Native Village and Totem Pole Park
The Cape Fox Dancers performed in the Beaver Clan house
of the Tlingit village. Dale Yonker accepted the invitation to
wear one of their beautiful capes and join the dancing. The
red design on the black wool cape indicates the tribe(s) of
the dancer.
The village is in a forest on a mountain overlooking a lake.
As we looked at the Totem Poles, our guide explained how
to “read” the story they told. Each Totem includes a symbol
of its tribe.
A totem may be 3-4 feet in diameter and 30 feet tall. They
are not protected from the weather; consequently, they
only last about 60 years. We watched Totem carvers at
work perhaps carving replacements or ones with new sto-
ries.
The only complaint is that we did not have enough hours in
port to experience and do all that we would have liked to
have seen and experienced.
Ketchikan (continued)
11 World IFYE Conference Report ~ 18 ~ 08-16 September 2018
th
