Totem Bight State Historical Park
The coastal rainforest park grew from a New Deal-era program in which Native carvers restored and copied abandoned village poles.
Artwork inspired by Nathan Jackson
A recreated clan house and restored poles frame a complicated preservation history. The coastal rainforest park grew from a New Deal-era program in which Native carvers restored and copied abandoned village poles. The site is most useful when craftsmanship and program history are read together.
Walk to the clan house before circling back through the poles, watching how crest figures relate to architecture and shore. These are restored and replicated poles in a public park, not an intact ancestral village; tour-bus peaks can crowd the short loop. The rewarding visit is the one that connects clan house with restored poles, then tests that reading against the place itself.
- Developed
- 1938
- Area
- 33 acres
- Setting
- Tongass Narrows
Quick guide
- Start with
- Walk to the clan house before circling back through the poles, watching how crest figures relate to architecture and shore.
- Look closely at
- Compare clan house with restored poles; their relationship carries the central story.
Know before you go
- Start with
- Walk to the clan house before circling back through the poles, watching how crest figures relate to architecture and shore.
- Look closely at
- Compare clan house with restored poles; their relationship carries the central story.
- Connect the story
- The rainforest park grew from a New Deal-era program in which Native carvers restored and copied village poles. Read the craftsmanship together with the program’s complicated history.
- Plan around
- Allow 1–2½ hours. These are restored and replicated poles in a public park, not an intact ancestral village; tour-bus peaks can crowd the short loop.
Good to know
These are restored and replicated poles in a public park, not an intact ancestral village; tour-bus peaks can crowd the short loop.
Notice these
- clan house
- restored poles
- Tongass shoreline