Here is another look at the S’Klallam Tribe’s 7 Cedars Casino totem poles in Blyn. This totem honors a storied leader of the S’Klallam Tribe, Lord James Balch. In 1855 a treaty rejected by many S’Klallam took their lands and moved Tribe members to a reservation 100 miles away, crowding them on unfamiliar land with tribes that had other languages and cultures. Understanding that purchasing lands would assure permanency Lord James Balch led his villagers to raise $500 and in 1874 purchased 210 acres in an area named Jamestown in his honor. With secure lands the Tribe went on to raise the first schoolhouse in Clallam County in 1878. This totem is carved in the Coast Salish style.
Tomorrow: The supernatural world and elements from nature.
Beautiful! I take it the bottom figure is Lord James Balch holding a salmon. Is the top one an owl? It doesn’t look like an eagle, a hawk, or a raven to me.
Thank you so much for sharing the description and pictures with us!
Kibz, the other figures are a salmon and indeed an eagle, both crest figures chosen by the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. You can’t tell from this angle but the hooked beak is a big clue on the eagle figure.
Thanks for the close-up…remarkable images and artwork!