"Tommy Joseph"

KRBD spoke with seven Southeast carvers working on Sealaska Heritage Institute’s Totem Pole Trail project.

Tommy Joseph is working on the park’s second reproduction of the “Waasgo Pole,” which tells the story of a Haida legend. The park no longer has the original.

Native and non-Native community members celebrated the pole’s unveiling Thursday afternoon despite earlier concerns that the library had skipped traditional protocol.

The Chief Johnson totem pole, which stood at the south end of the Centennial Building parking lot adjacent to the city museum, was taken down for cleaning and repairs in late September.