Copyright ©2026 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
One of the ports we stopped in during our Alaska cruise last year was Juneau. Along the waterfront there are quite a few totem poles. They’re part of the Totem Pole Trail(Kooteeyaa Deiyi). Each pole tells the story of lineage, clan crests, and ancestral history. There are story boards and scan codes to explain their stories beside the totems. There are plans to expand to 30 totem poles representing all the clans of the Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples.
This one is the Kaagwaantaan Totem Pole it was created by artist Nicholas Galanin in April 2023. It depicts clan crests including the Killer Whale, and Eagle.
Kaagwaataan Totem Pole, Juneau, Alaska
more to come…
Circadianreflections Blog 
someone has gone to a lot of work to carve and paint this pole Deborah. I guess I wonder at its significance having such ugly somewhat angry grotesque faces on it
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I haven’t seen any of these in person since I was quite young, but I love them and this one is a beauty.
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This is beautiful. Thank you, Janet!
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I enjoyed seeing the totems in Alaska. This one is a beauty.
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Thank you, Beth! I did do. Some of them were hard to photograph though.
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Hi Deborah, I enjoyed your post today! I have always been fascinated with the symbolism and stories of NW Coast Indian art. Great photo!!
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Thank you so much, Jill! They are mysterious and interesting aren’t they.
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That’s a wonderful work of art. I’m impressed with your photo. You got all of it in frame and with a very nice background. Well done.
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I only had taken my 35mm and 500mm and the 35mm was great most the time. There were times I needed more room. The Totem Poles are so neat. I’d like to go back one day and see more of them.
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A beautiful work of art, Deborah. Well photographed too.
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Thank you so much, John! I agree it is a beautiful work of art.
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This is wonderful, Deborah! An upright history as well as ancestry book. I’m recently (re)reading Bruce Chatwins book on the same theme about the Australian Aborigenes. They don’t erect Totem Poles but have every clan, holy place, routes, places of history, even families covered in songs. The lands, and effectively the continent, is crossed by myriads of these Song Lines, by wich they can communicate, even with clans that speak a totally different language.. Ever so interesting. But not as visually attractive as these Toten Poles!
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That book does sound interesting. These Totem poles are a wonderful way to tell the families/clans stories and history.
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They certainly are beautiful! We have examples of them here at the Museum of Civilization.
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How cool! They are beautiful and so interesting.
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Imagine if each one of us down here had a totem pole.
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These poles are beautiful and like a book!
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They are! They’re very interesting aren’t they.
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Yes indeed!!
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For some reason, the colors surprised me. It certainly is appealing, though, and such an icon of the area.
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Me too re: the colors. These colors remind me of the southwest and the blue faces remind me of cold winters and cold ocean waters.
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