This morning we crossed the international boundary between Canada and the United States, between the province of British Columbia and the state of Alaska at the famous 54º 40' line, once the southern boundary of Russian America.
At Ketchikan we visited Saxman Native Village, which contains a large collection of totem poles (two of which are pictured here). Totem poles are an integral part of the cultural landscape of the Inside Passage, which links Seattle with southeastern Alaska. Among the animals of the region commonly represented on totem poles are whales, ravens, eagles, bears, frogs, beavers, and wolves. These constitute part of a complex way of making symbol statements about the history of the native peoples who arrange to have these poles carved. Fashioned from cedar wood, many totem poles will last as many as 50 or 60 years. Perhaps nothing so conveys the exotic cultural landscape we encounter in Alaska as the totem pole.
