Administrative/Biographical History
In 1938 the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began a project that employed local Haida Natives in rebuilding the local Neyuwens, the Son-I-Hat Whale House at Kasaan, Alaska and totems in the surrounding area. Since the Son-I-Hat Whale House had not been occupied since Chief Son-I-Hat had last lived there in 1915, the structure had badly deteriorated by the 1930s. The walls and roof had caved in, but the basic timbers were sound with little decay. The interior roof support houseposts remained, along with the center post that Chief Son-I-Hat had brought from his uncle’s house in Old Kasaan.
Linn Forrest was the U.S. Forest Service architect in charge of the research, redesign, and construction of three houses and totem parks during the late 1930s. He reported to Frank Heintzleman, the territory’s regional forester. These parks were Totem Bight near Ketchikan, Shakes Island in Wrangell, and Whale House at New Kasaan. Totem poles were retrieved from various village sites and most were set up in clusters. Poles were placed at New Kasaan, Saxman, Totem Bight, Hydaburg, Klawock, Wrangell and Sitka.
In 1938-1939 the Kasaan CCC program, under the supervision of C. R. Snow, restored the Son-I-Hat Whale House and moved a number of poles from Old Kasaan to create the totem park near the Whale House in Kasaan. Workers cleared the land around the Whale House, built a carving shed, and cleared and graveled the trail. Then they retrieved totem poles and grave markers from Old Kasaan, which were selected primarily by their condition, with signed documents from the owners approving the move. These were barged or floated to Kasaan and brought up the creek at high tide to the work area. Some of the poles were restored while others were copied. The restored poles were adzed to remove the weathered surface down to sound wood and re-carved. This often caused the pole’s lines and proportions to change. Other poles, which were deemed too deteriorated, were copied and the originals disposed of in the woods. The project left some poles, however, untouched and remaining at Old Kasaan. Identified local men employed to work on this CCC project included: James Peele, head carver (& son of Sonihat), Louis Jones, Dexter Wallace, Ed Young, Healy Jones, Raymond Jones, Robert Jones, Henry Jones, Lawrence Peele, Felix Young, Robert Young, Donald Wallace, Peter Jones, Walter Young, Albert Williams, George Jones, Jacob Thomas, Donald Thomas, Joseph Jones, Julius Frank, Sayres McAlpin, and David Peele. Today the Son-I-Hat Whale House and totem park is oversaw in part by the Kasaan Haida Heritage Foundation.
Administrative InformationThe materials in the collection were donated to SHI’s Special Collections Research Center by Mary Pat Wyatt of MRV Architects on Dec. 31, 2007. Mary Pat Wyatt obtained a copy of the original Snow Daybook from the Organized Village of Kasaan, and it is believed the original daybook is in private hands. Accession number 2007.008.
