MAP

2007, 10.7 mile walking tour

On October 18, 1889 a stolen Tlingit totem pole was installed in Seattle's Pioneer Square. The burdened gift was raft with controversy, due to its unsavory acquisition that both symbolically and literally erectly placed guilt on the urban soil.The pole had originated in an Alaskan village and been one of many poles that were privately distributed to institutions around the U.S. in proper mercenary fashion. Hypothetically, one doesn't stumble into a situation that opportunes the looting of a 60 foot, multi-ton piece of lumber; it's necessarily orchestrated, premeditated, and at least partially funded. Also, professional mercenaries are rarely philanthropic supporters of culture.

After the looting, sales, and presentation of the totems an apology was necessary. Thus, a bill of $500, a quarter of the remuneration demanded by the original owners and creators, was paid to the Tlingit Tribe.

Four months prior to revealing the totem pole, the majority of Seattle had burnt to the ground. The fire spread through the business district, which was constructed primarily of the same lumber that had initially inspired settlers to colonize the area. The fire's aftermath evidenced the local spirit of reconstruction, but to simply rebuild was not only unimaginative, it would have been logistically asinine. Cities were germinating in the new West almost by the calendar year. Distinction as a strategy to attract investors was absolutely necessary. As part of the a larger effort of civic branding, the city held the 1909 world's fair, which the planners had graciously named the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition--each hyphen an extension of city's claim to domain. Totems, native peoples and their heritage offered a contrast to California's Spanish and Mexican roots and a local exoticism for the young country.

In 1938, the totem pole was arsoned beyond repair and was replaced by ancestors of the first pole's carvers.

Link to walking tour map