Images of the Killer Whale Grave Totem

Feb 4

In honor of the new Videos section of this website, I uploaded my first historic photo slideshow of the Killer Whale Grave Totem to YouTube! You can watch it here:

I am slowly, cautiously dipping my toe into the world of sharing content this way. Many of these images live scattered around the Internet and in dusty old books. Bringing them together and displaying them chronologically tells a visual story.

While I found many photos of this totem, I found very little written about it. The San Francisco Chronicle of March 23, 1890 published this illustration and brief description of the totem:

“There are two remarkable graves to be seen here. A little log hut is constructed and in this was deposited the dead body of the chief, or his ashes if the body had been cremated. On the top is a figure of an animal carved in wood. One of these graves has a wolf above and the other a whale, but the latter is so much overgrown with rank brush that only the whale’s teeth and head show out from the surrounding vegetation…”

According to the December 19, 1952 edition of the Wrangell Sentinel, the totems were “located approximately where the Emma Case property is today” which I think may be where Case Avenue is today.

I’d love to know how this totem came to be inside the courtyard of Fort Wrangel. I like to think it was a sign of respect for the Lingít. This was a very prominent, highly visible spot. The two-story behind it was used as a school, courthouse, and other civic functions. For anyone landing at the dock, just at the bottom of the hill, this would have been one of the first pieces of Lingít art they’d see up close. Even today, this spot in front of the Post Office is frequently visited by locals and tourists just off a ship. And there’s still Lingít art in front of the building, thanks to Thomas Ukas.

Watching the Killer Whale totem age and decay had an unintended affect for me. It reminded me of the shortness of life and that nothing is permanent. Over time, bits of the totem wear away and disappear. It sinks further into the mud. It disappears from photographs around the 1910s. I have no idea what became of it. If anyone has an ideas, please get in touch with me at wrangellpod@gmail.com.

Ronan Rooney