Totem Pole

The totem pole comes from a red cedar tree harvested in Thorn Bay by the Ketchikan Pulp Company. The Ketchikan Pulp Company donated the 24-foot red cedar log to Denali Elementary. The log was shipped by barge to Seattle, and then to Anchorage. From Anchorage, it was trucked to Fairbanks. The log spent several years on the ground outside of the gym before Bert Ryan, a Tsimpshian carver from Metlakatla, began working with students at Denali in the spring of 1997 to carve and paint the totem pole. The totem pole tells a story about love, kindness, and respect that was given to us by the carver.

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