Totem Pole, (sculpture).

Totem Pole, (sculpture).

Palmer, Wayne L., sculptor.

Coleman, Armistead, designer.

Rudolph, John H., architect.

Totem Pole, (sculpture).

Dedicated April 7, 1962.

Totem pole: cedar, painted; Base: granite (?).

Totem pole: approx. H. 30 ft. x Diam. 77 in.; Base: approx. 24 x 90 x 90 in.

(Bronze plaque on base:) This cedar totem has been carved by an Indian man to record his fore-/fathers' main occupation of clamming, fishing, hunting, and canoe building./One of the heads represents Chief Kitsap, for whom this county was/named. From 1790-1845, he was the most powerful of Puget Sound/Chiefs and head of all Indians from Olympia to the Fraser River./Chief Kitsap's prowess as a warrior was only slightly surpassed by his/reputation as a medicine man. He died in 1857./

The other totem head represents chief Seattle, or Sealth, for whom/this state's largest city was named. In the prime of his manhood Seattle/was chosen chief of all the closely allied tribes of this region. Chief/Seattle was born about 1786 in this area of Kitsap County. When he/died on June 7, 1866, his son said "my father was the last great chief/of the Seattles. In the last strife with the whites, my father was/threatened because he would not fight, but he feared no one but God."/Erected by the Kitsap County Historical Association for/"Century 21," the Seattle World Fair of 1962. unsigned

The carvings on this totem pole include: a thunderbird with its wings spread (representing the Indian Tribal Crest), a beaver (symbol of the tribes in water areas); a blackfish (symbol of the annual expedition for oil); a clam and salmon (symbol of basic food of the area); hands clasped over an anchor (representing the first meeting with men from ships that came to the area); paddles (symbols of transportation); profiles of Chief Kitsap and Chief Sealth; clasped hands (symbol of friendship); deer (representing hunting and food, clothing); and flames (symbol of feasts).

Ethnic -- Indian

Portrait male -- Kitsap, Chief

Portrait male -- Sealth, Chief

Mythology -- American Indian -- Thunderbird

Animal -- Beaver

Animal -- Fish -- Salmon

Animal -- Whale

Animal -- Fish -- Clam

Figure -- Fragment -- Hand

Outdoor Sculpture -- Washington -- Poulsbo

Administered by Suquamish Tribal Council, Cultural Restoration, P. O. Box 498, Suquamish, Washington 98392

Located State Route 305, 100 yards west of Agate Passage, Poulsbo, Washington

The totem pole was commissioned by a Boy Scout troop and was dedicated by the Washington State Highway Commission. It was installed by the Kitsap County Historical Association for "Century 21," the Seattle World Fair of 1962.

IAS files contain a transcription of the inscription on a nearby plaque which describes the symbolism of the totem pole carvings. For additional information see the 1962 Seattle World's Fair Scrapbook at the Kitsap Historical Museum.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, Washington survey, 1995.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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