Ketchikan, Alaska and Saxman Totem Park

Arriving at Ketchikan, Alaska.

                            Totem of William Seward.

Tuesday, August 8^th.

I was up very early and went up to the deck to watch us arrive and dock at Ketchikan, the self-proclaimed Salmon Capital of the World. This is the ‘first’ city of Alaska, as it’s the most southerly one. If you look at the map of British Columbia, you’ll see that a strip of Alaska runs down the northwest coast of BC. Ketchikan is on a large island and has a population of about 8000 permanent residents and about 4000 more in the summer months employed in the tourist industry. The original industry was based on fishing; then logging and pulp and paper took over for 50 years before the government decided to protect the forests. About half the population lost their jobs when the plant closed. Luckily tourism began in earnest and the town thrived. But of course COVID interrupted tourism for two years and the town is again recovering. During the summer months, from May to September, they average four cruise ships per day and can actually dock eight.

I was off the ship by 7:30. Rain was predicted but thankfully it didn’t materialize. Ketchikan gets an average of 11-13 feet of rain annually! But is seldom snows as this is a temperature rainforest region. I decided to walk to Saxon Totem Park and set off armed with a map. It was to be a two mile walk along a road following the seashore. I didn’t see any signage and was about to give up because I knew I had to retrace my steps to catch my 9:30 excursion. Luckily, I asked a helpful woman, and she told me it was just around the corner. The admission booth wasn’t open yet so I just wandered around looking at the 25 totems which are authentic replicas of original poles that were left in abandoned villages as Native Alaskans moved into more populated cities. I could hear a tribal dance going on inside the totem house, but entry was forbidden. Then I walked the two miles back to town. I walked around Ketchikan and the famous Creek Street area, which is very scenic but incredibly touristy. I walked back to the Noordam gangplank to catch the bus for the Bear Encounter on Land and Sea. We drove for a half hour to the dock. On the way the driver told us a story about a totem pole. One of Abraham Lincoln’s cabinet members, William Seward, purchased Alaska from the Russians for a few million dollars. Sometime later he sailed up to Alaska to see the region. The local people were very excited and honoured to see him. They welcomed him warmly and gave him many gifts. Later he took the gifts back to the ship and returned to the States. The natives carved a totem with an image of Seward on the top. Unfortunately, he did not understand that the native culture dictated that when given gifts you are supposed to reciprocate. The locals waited and finally realized he wasn’t coming back, so they painted his ears, lips and nose on the totem red for shame. Years later when his descendants heard about this, they offered to repay the gifts and the tribe demanded over a million dollars. They declined and the totem has remained since.