Totem in Ketchikan, Alaska

Ketchikan, Alaska, ca. 1895. Original silver print photograph, 4.25” x 3”. Captioned in the negative “Totem, Ketchikan, Alaska”. CONDITION: Good, trimmed at upper and lower edges. Original photograph of the Totem of Chief George Kian (also spelled Kyan), in Ketchikan, Alaska, being a partial view, from bottom-up, showing a section consisting of a brown bear, a thunderbird, and a crane. These animals represent the lineage of Kian’s family, with the bear representing Kian’s immediate family, the thunderbird representing his wife’s family, and the crane symbolizing his wife herself.

Chief Kian (circa 1880–1955) was a chief of the Tlingit people. In 1885, Kian sold over a hundred acres of the land that later became Ketchikan to Mike Martin, a pioneer and early settler of the area.

The original pole no longer remains; however, a fairly accurate replica that was erected in 1992 stands on the original site.

REFERENCES: “Chief Kyan totem pole,” at Seattle Public Library online; “Chief Kian Totem Pole” at Streamliner Memories online.