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calarco's Reviews (760)
A great overview of Sitka'a displayed totem poles, with a focus on the general mythology pertaining to their features.
Sitka National Historical Park, and the town of Sitka itself, are most easily denoted by their iconic totem poles. This book takes an in-depth look at the history of these charismatic objects.
Well researched, this volume explores the totem poles' object biographies, an overview of the changing nature of their stewardship, and a look at some of the individuals who cared for them. There is also a great argument made for prioritizing the process of preserving the totem poles (which includes the active work of living native peoples), over an emphasis on valuing the materiality alone.
That being said, where this volume falls short is in how it portrays the relationship between U.S. government-affiliated stewards and local peoples as benevolent and based on reciprocal exchanges of a generally equal nature. The interactions between these parties where undoubtedly more nuanced, and the obvious power imbalance is never fully fleshed out.
If you are interested in learning about totem poles as a form or material culture, this is an excellent source. If you are interested in learning about the origins of the poles, and the inherently complex relationships they had with the people who created them, or those peoples' honest feelings, you will have to find something else.
Well researched, this volume explores the totem poles' object biographies, an overview of the changing nature of their stewardship, and a look at some of the individuals who cared for them. There is also a great argument made for prioritizing the process of preserving the totem poles (which includes the active work of living native peoples), over an emphasis on valuing the materiality alone.
That being said, where this volume falls short is in how it portrays the relationship between U.S. government-affiliated stewards and local peoples as benevolent and based on reciprocal exchanges of a generally equal nature. The interactions between these parties where undoubtedly more nuanced, and the obvious power imbalance is never fully fleshed out.
If you are interested in learning about totem poles as a form or material culture, this is an excellent source. If you are interested in learning about the origins of the poles, and the inherently complex relationships they had with the people who created them, or those peoples' honest feelings, you will have to find something else.
The author is clearly passionate about the innate beauty that permeates Sitka, that much is clear. The choice to write this account in the style of a pseudo-diary, however, delegitimizes the descriptions of Sitka's more "romantic" qualities. The language choice sets the stage for cheesy and unintentionally funny accounts, as opposed to the author's (likely) intention of describing a vivid, sublime experience.
Even though this was published in 1930, it was very difficult to keep moral relativity at bay, especially given the author's inherently biased accounts of historical events. More humanity is allotted to the descriptions of Tlingit material culture than to the actual people, which made certain passages especially irksome.
Segments I did enjoy included the descriptions of the eccentric "Father of Pictures" (aka: Merrill) and some of the accounts that included documentation and photographs.
In conclusion: meh narrative, cool pictures. I would still recommend this book to people who live or have lived in Sitka. You'll definitely have an opinion about it, and the library has a couple copies.
Even though this was published in 1930, it was very difficult to keep moral relativity at bay, especially given the author's inherently biased accounts of historical events. More humanity is allotted to the descriptions of Tlingit material culture than to the actual people, which made certain passages especially irksome.
Segments I did enjoy included the descriptions of the eccentric "Father of Pictures" (aka: Merrill) and some of the accounts that included documentation and photographs.
In conclusion: meh narrative, cool pictures. I would still recommend this book to people who live or have lived in Sitka. You'll definitely have an opinion about it, and the library has a couple copies.
