Close to 500 community members gathered between Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall and Gajaa Hit on Monday to celebrate the raising of a new Eagle and Raven totem poles.
Brothers Joe and T.J. Young began carving the 40 foot, red cedar poles last September to replace the two poles originally carved in 1977. Between their apprentices and others, T.J. Young says it was a collaboration.
“We got to talk to Nathan Jackson who is a Tlingit artist down in Ketchikan. He came in and visited us for a while and gave us some pointers, and a handful of other artists came by and wished us good luck,” T.J. Young says.
“All the artists, we all know each other—it’s like a community of artists and we all feed off of each others’ energy. It’s always good to see them, pick each others’ brains and have a fun time creating.”
Joe Young says the most fulfilling part of the project had to do with the all the people at Monday’s pole raising.
“Probably that all the people came out and all the young kids get to see this. We didn’t get to see too much when we grew up. Hopefully they realize they’re seeing something that’s not done every day and hopefully they learn to appreciate it.”
With help from a boom truck, a lift, and several helpers, both poles were successfully raised.
